Hot And Sour Soup

Well true to my normal form, I came down sick after my trip from Chicago. I ALWAYS get sick when I travel, or when I am around a lot of different people. Even though I washed my hands like crazy, stayed in a virtually germ free home that had hand sanitizer every few feet... I still got sick. Probably from the plane. Any way, I need soup. Back home in Oregon I would order Hot and Sour soup from Wu's Open Kitchen. A lot of places have hot and sour soup, but wu's has always been my favorite. Here is my attempt at trying to recreate it. My husband and I loved it, it was scrumptious.

Ingredients

4 mushrooms thinly sliced
2 tablespoons canola oil
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon red chile paste,
1/2 cup canned bamboo shoots, sliced
1/2 cup diced scallops
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tsp agave nectar or sugar
2 quarts Chicken Stock
1/2 square firm tofu, drained and sliced in 1/4-inch strips
3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Chopped green onions and cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions
Heat the oil in a wok or large pot over medium-high flame. Add the ginger, chili paste, bamboo shoots, mushrooms; cook and stir for 1 minute to infuse the flavor. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl, pour it into the wok and toss everything together - it should smell really fragrant. Pour in the Chicken Stock, bring the soup to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tofu and cook for 3 minutes.

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir until smooth. Mix into the soup and continue to simmer until the soup thickens. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in 1 direction to get a current going, then stop stirring. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs in a steady stream and watch it spin around and feather in the broth (it should be cooked almost immediately.) Garnish the hot and sour soup with chopped green onions and cilantro before serving.