Impossible^TM Beef & Tofu Soup

It’s not often that you encounter a soup named after a body of water, but it’s probably a good sign. Commonly viewed as a more deluxe version of egg drop soup, West Lake Soup originated in the Zhejiang region in Hangzhou, China, taking its name from the beautiful freshwater lake found there.

A few quick notes on the ingredients before you start. The meat marinade includes Shaoxing wine, which is a Chinese fermented wine made from rice. It should be relatively easy to find, but you can also substitute mirin, dry sherry, or cooking sake if need be. As you may have guessed, choy sum is closely related to bok choy. It has smaller and slimmer stalks with broad leaves, similar to Chinese broccoli. Choy sum has a milder, more delicate flavor than bok choy, but if you’re having trouble finding some, bok choy is perfectly fine to use, although you may want to slice more of the bottom stems off before dicing it up to ensure a leafier ratio.

This soup takes just a few minutes to get going. Start by dicing up the tofu, choy sum, and mushrooms before moving onto marinating the Impossible™ Beef made from plants. Once you’ve got the broth going, stir in the shiitake mushroom powder, crumble in the Impossible Beef made from plants, place the tofu & veggies in, and cook for about 5 minutes. The potato mixture comes next, but make sure you mix it with the two tablespoons of water before adding it to the broth. Oh, and one last thing: Turn the heat off before adding in the egg whites, so they don’t get overcooked. This soup is often served as a starter, but we’d rather not restrict such a delightful dish, so serve it however you like!