Recipe: Hot & Sour Soup

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Well, I might as well keep this recipe train going.

Homemade Hot & Sour Soup in a vintage Fire King soup mug

Homemade Hot & Sour Soup in a vintage Fire King soup mug

Hot & sour soup is an easy meatless Monday meal. It’s deceivingly filling and you can make it vegan by replacing an egg with Just Egg.

Many of the ingredients can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store.

Hot & Sour Soup

Ingredients:

  • Dried sliced Shitake mushrooms - I never measure I just grab a handful. Soak in hot water for 30 minutes then drain.

  • 8 cups of vegetable broth.

  • 1/4 - 1/2 cup of rice wine vinegar (to your taste)

  • 2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce (to your taste)

  • 1-2 tablespoons of hot chili oil (to your taste)

  • 2 tablespoons of sesame oil

  • 1 package of firm tofu (drained and cubed)

  • 1/2 cup of frozen peas & carrots

  • 1/2 cup of thinly sliced bamboo shoots. (They usually come canned.)

  • 2 green onions chopped (for topping)

  • 1 egg beaten (or Just Egg replacer)

Like I mentioned, get your dried mushrooms hydrated before you get your soup going. No one likes a chewy semi dry mushroom.

In a large pot on medium heat add your vegetable broth, vinegar and sesame oil. Add in the vinegar, making sure to taste as you add it in. Some people get prune faced when they eat vinegar. Me, I’m pretty sure I can drink that shit like water. My mom legit used to do that. So I probably go over that 1/2 cup measurement.

Do the same incremental tasting when you add the soy sauce next. If you’re using store bought broth or veggie bullion, the bummer is that it can be pretty salty. So don’t salt yourself out.

Get a decent bubbling going on with the broth and add the chili oil, tofu, peas & carrots, bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Don’t forget to stir so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

Final stage is adding the egg. If you’re not using Just Egg, you’ll need to beat the egg. Slowly drizzle the egg into the hot broth. Give it a very light stir so it doesn't disappear to the bottom. Kill the heat top with green onions and serve.

So what you’ll find missing from my recipe is cornstarch. While it does have it’s place in my kitchen, I don’t like in my hot & sour soup. I like the ingredients’ individual textures and don’t need it masked with a cornstarch slurry, like gravy. Its soup not gravy.

Enjoy!

xo-Thea