Dried Bean Curd Soup With Shiitake Mushrooms

Rinse chicken and pork and place in bottom of 4-5 quart slow cooker. Rinse mushrooms and soak in a bowl of warm water for one hour. When soft, slice each into three pieces. Add to cooker.

Soak preserved turnip in a cup of warm water for ten minutes. Untie, rinse and add to cooker. Add cold water to cooker to just cover ingredients, about 3 quarts, leaving at least 1" from the top. Cover and cook on low for six hours.

Rinse bean curd sticks in warm water and set aside. Skim fat and any impurities from top of soup and add bean curd sticks. Stir gently to moisten sticks, cover and cook on high for one hour or until bean curd is tender. Add salt to taste (do not add salt before this time or bean curd will toughen).

Ladle soup from crock pot into serving bowl. Debone pork and chicken, adding meat back to soup, if desired.