14.260 San La Tang Myeon

katch4246

Sep 22

Cycle 14 - Item 260

22 (Fri) September 2023

San La Tang Myeon

1.5

at Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight

(Lotte World Tower)

-Jamsil, Songpa, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

solo

Hot & Sour Soup is a Chinese dish. The soup features a distinctive chicken/pork-based broth that's both spicy (i.e., "hot") (from white pepper) and tangy (i.e., "sour") (from black vinegar). In Chinese restaurants across North America, where the soup is always on the menu, the broth is thickened with corn starch, the version now more familiar around the world, even though the traditional Chinese version is watery. Originally a peasant dish loaded with whatever was on hand, modern formulations often include: pork, doufu, egg, woodear mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, as well as garlic and other basic aromatics. In Chinese, the dish is called "suan (tangy) + la (spicy) + tang (soup)."

The noodles comprised the restaurant's signature la mian.

The dish can occasionally be found in mainstream Korean-Chinese restaurants in Korea, referred to as "san la tang" (after the Chinese), typically at quasi-fancy places that try to rise about the standard fare. Come to think of it, for some reason, I've never tried san la tang, even though it's one of my favorite soups in American-Chinese settings.

In fact, I usually order hot & sour soup at Ho Lee Chow or PF Chang's.

Surprisingly, the soup has not once been featured on GMTD. The only reference that I could find was in a post on PF Chang's a few years back (see 11.287 Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps). Oddly, the soup was #51 among the 222 dishes in the TEITY (Try Every Item at Tao Yuan) project, but no image of it among the other dishes that I'd tried that meal (see 5.291 Beef Tenderloin with Special Sauce). Probably because I've always taken it for granted.

The components also include squid and sea cucumber.

The first time encountering the dish as a noodle soup, it wasn't very good. First, whereas la mian noodles are somewhat goopy by nature, they were too goopy in the thick broth. Second, the soft floury taste of the noodles dampened the inherent sharpness of the soup itself, rendering it neither hot nor sour. And third, accustomed to eating a small bowl as an appetizer, I found the full-sized serving way too much for me. First and last experience.

I will, however, give hot & sour soup / suan la tang / san la tang more attention in the future.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)