Instructions: Place into a soup tureen the vinegar, soy sauce, scallions, sesame oil, ground peppercorns, chilis, ginger, and cilantro.

Combine the pork marinade ingredients. Add the pork slices and coat with the mixture. Set aside for 20 minutes.

Heat the oil in a stockpot. Add the pork and stir-fry over medium heat until the pork changes color. Remove the pork to a plate.

Add the water, sugar and salt to the stockpot. Bring to a boil. Add the bamboo shoots, wood ear fungus and the cooked pork. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in the cornstarch thickening until the soup boils and becomes a velvety consistency. Add the bean curd. Gently stir in the beaten eggs until the eggs float in soft tendrils. Immediately pour over the ingredients in your serving tureen and serve.

This recipe yields 6 to 8 servings.

Comments: The tantalizing flavors in this soup make it one of the most famous of Sichuans (Szechwans) dishes. It is a soup full of strong, jostling flavors, typifying the culinary uniqueness of this region, which stresses the Five Flavors - hot (chili, peppery hot) sour, salty, sweet, nutty. Originally a peasant soup, satisfying and filling, it is thick with bean curd, as Sichuan (Szechwan) is the home of the best bean curd in China. Today, this soup is regarded as a classic international dish that emerged from this great culinary region of China.

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