Szechuan Hot & Sour Soup

Chinatown Birmingham

Most bought soups, no matter which format (tinned, carton, bag), are not really up to much, I find. I'd much rather make my own, starting with a tsp of olive oil and a sizeable amount of chopped onions. Very finely chopped celery also adds flavour and health benefits. Then I add whatever vegetables are left/need using up, or otherwise, passata and spices for a tomato soup.

One of the only bought-in soups I really liked, was this one:  Asian Home Gourmet, Special Paste for Soup, Szechuan Hot & Sour Soup, Suan La Tang. Birmingham has a Chinatown (albeit small in comparison with London) with Chinese supermarkets, so this is easy enough to get hold of.

One word of warning though: it says use water or stock, and I did the latter the other day, and it turned out far too salty. So, note to self: only use water!