Soak the dried wood ear mushrooms and dried lily flowers in hot water for 20–30 minutes. Drain and rinse them well, slice the wood ear mushrooms, remove tough ends from the lily flowers, and cut the flowers into shorter pieces.

Toss the thin pork matchsticks with light soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and 1 teaspoon neutral oil. Let the pork stand for about 10 minutes so the marinade seasons it and helps keep the meat tender.

Bring the chicken stock or unsalted chicken broth to a simmer in a large pot. Add the marinated pork, bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms, lily flowers, shiitake mushrooms, and tofu.

Simmer gently for 5–8 minutes, or until the pork is cooked and the mushrooms are tender. Avoid a hard boil, which can make the soup ingredients rough and the finished thickened broth less pleasant.

Stir in the ground white pepper and Chinkiang black vinegar. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer, stir the cornstarch slurry, and slowly pour it into the pot while stirring; cook for 1–2 minutes until the broth lightly thickens.

Slowly drizzle the lightly beaten egg into the simmering soup in a thin stream while stirring continuously in one direction. This creates fine, silky egg ribbons instead of large clumps.

Turn off the heat and stir in the toasted sesame oil and sliced scallions. Taste and adjust with additional Chinkiang vinegar, white pepper, or salt, then garnish with cilantro if desired and serve hot.