Easy Hot and Sour Soup

hot and sour soup

There’s one in every family. That one lone oddball who HAS to order Hot and Sour while everyone else orders Egg Drop.

Yep, that would be me.

Besides the Egg Rolls and Hot Mustard, I think the Hot and Sour Soup was my favorite dish in any Chinese Restaurant. Something about all those flavors mingling around together in that bowl. The spicy hot from the chile peppers, and that tart sourness from the vinegar.

If I knew how to say YUM in Chinese…….

So last night I was informed my mother-in-law was coning to visit and she would like some homemade Egg Drop Soup for dinner. No problem. I can still cook omni – throw some rice in the rice cooker and make a pot of Egg Drop Soup, got it.

But what about me? Sure sounded like the perfect opportunity to throw together MY favorite….

Hot and Sour Soup

You’ll need some mushrooms for this recipe. I recommend about a pound or so. I used regular white button mushrooms, but you’ll also want a small package of Shiitake as well. My local Kroger had them fresh, but if you can only find dried, that’s fine too. Just pour some hot water on them to rehydrate them.

Rinse and slice your mushrooms thinly, discarding any stems, and set aside.

Now’s a good time to drain your tofu as well. I used about half a block, so wrap up the other half and save it for later. Lay your tofu on paper towels, and I usually place another paper towel on top along with a plate. Drink the tofu the best you can and then slice it into small cubes. Set it aside for now too.

Now we’re ready to cook.

Cut off the white parts to an entire bunch of green onions and chop them into a soup pan. Save the green stems for garnish. Add in another diced yellow onion and saute in just a bit of veggie broth until softened.

Add your mushrooms to the pot. Remember, you want enough Shiitake and White Button to equal about a pound. Continue sautéing until they are nice and soft and have released all their liquid.

Grate up about an inch of fresh ginger and mince a couple of cloves of garlic and stir that in next.

For the chile, I used 2 teaspoons of a popular chili-garlic paste I bought in the store. You can add up to 3 teaspoons if you really like it spicy. Give that a quick stir for about a minute and then add in a can of chopped bamboo shoots and your tofu cubes.

Slowly add in your vinegar and soy sauce and give it a quick stir.

Now add in your veggie broth and water. Save about 1/3 cup of water though for your corn starch slurry. We’ll be adding that in just a minute.

Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Now slowly stir in your corn starch slurry and let that thicken.

Garnish with those chopped green onion stems and soup’s on.

百胜 !

I hope that translates to YUM, but If I just cussed anyone out in Chinese…blame Google)