#100: Hot & Sour Soup at Shu Feng Restaurant

Ian Froeb

​A decent bowl of hot & sour soup can clear your sinuses. A very good bowl can dispel your midwinter malaise. So it happens at Shu Feng Restaurant (our "Best Chinese Restaurant" for 2009), where the soup's one-two punch of pepper and vinegar shatters this endless February chill. On the radio on the drive over here I heard a live report from Cardinals spring training in Jupiter, Florida, and as the sweat the soup prompts prickles my forehead, I can believe that sooner rather than later I'll be back in Busch Stadium, shading my eyes from the sun as Pujols steps into the batter's box.

Then, as the heat and pucker fade, I head back into the cold, happy that, at just under $2 for a single serving (including fried won-ton strips), the benefits of this hot & sour soup aren't merely spiritual.

Shu Feng Restaurant
8435 Olive Boulevard, University City
314-983-0099
$1.95

I'm counting down -- in no particular order -- 100 of my favorite dishes in St. Louis. Some are well-known, others obscure. Some are expensive, others dirt cheap. All of them, I guarantee, are delicious. Please do not hesitate to share your own favorites via the comments thread.