The Best Hot Sour Soup Recipes

HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Put the wood ears in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes to reconstitute. Drain and rinse the wood ears; discard any hard clusters in the centers.
• Heat the oil in a wok or large pot over medium-high flame. Add the ginger, chili paste, wood ears, bamboo shoots, and pork; cook and stir for 1 minute to infuse the flavor. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl, pour it into the wok and toss everything together - it should smell really fragrant. Pour in the Chinese Chicken Stock, bring the soup to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tofu and cook for 3 minutes.
• Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir until smooth. Mix the slurry into the soup and continue to simmer until the soup thickens. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in 1 direction to get a current going, then stop stirring. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs in a steady stream and watch it spin around and feather in the broth (it should be cooked almost immediately.) Garnish the hot and sour soup with chopped green onions and cilantro before serving.
• Put the chicken in a large stockpot and place over medium heat. Toss in the green onions, garlic, ginger, onion, and peppercorns. Pour about 3 quarts of cold water into the pot to cover the chicken by 1-inch. Simmer gently for 1 hour, uncovered, skimming off the foam on the surface periodically.
• Carefully remove the chicken from the pot and pass the stock through a strainer lined with cheesecloth to remove the solids and excess fat. Cool the chicken stock to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator, or chill it down over ice first.
• Yield: About 2 quarts

THE BEST HOT & SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Reconstitute mushrooms in water according to package directions.
• Heat oil in wok or large pot.
• Add ginger, chile paste and pork, cook for about two minute.
• Add bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and mushrooms, cook for 1 minute.
• In a bowl, combine vinegar, soy sauce, salt, pepper and sugar and
• pour into wok.
• Add chicken stock, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minute.
• Add tofu and cook another 3-5 minute.
• Mix cornstarch and water and add to soup and cook until thickened.
• Stir soup in one direction to get current going then add beaten egg,
• it will look feathery.
• Garnish soup with green onion and serve.

HOMEMADE HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Bring chicken broth to a simmer in a 2-quart saucepan. Add mushrooms, chicken, soy sauce, chile paste, and garlic. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add tofu, bamboo shoots, vinegar, and white pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes more.
• Combine water and cornstarch in a cup; stir until smooth. Add mixture to the soup and stir well. Let simmer until soup thickens, about 5 minutes more.
• Beat egg in a cup and slowly pour, in a fine stream, into the soup. Stir well and heat through for 30 seconds. Mix in green onions and sesame oil. Remove from heat; serve hot.

CHEF JOHN'S HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in hot water, stirring occasionally, until soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain well and slice into thin strips.
• Whisk soy sauce, vinegar, ground white pepper, and sesame oil together in a small bowl for hot and sour mixture; set aside until needed.
• Whisk cornstarch and water together in another small bowl for slurry; set aside until needed.
• Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add ginger, sliced green onions, and shiitake mushrooms. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Pour in chicken broth and bring up to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Stir in carrot, red pepper, bamboo shoots, tofu, and the hot and sour mixture. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
• Raise heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Stir the soup slowly with a spoon while transferring in the beaten eggs in a steady stream to create thin ribbons. Keep stirring until the soup comes back to a boil. Reduce heat to medium.
• Stir the cornstarch slurry to make sure it's well blended, then slowly drizzle it into the soup while stirring constantly. Soup should thicken up within 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat, taste for seasoning, and serve.

SIMPLE HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Place shiitake mushrooms and cloud ear mushrooms in a bowl of water; soak until softened, about 30 minutes. Drain and finely chop the mushrooms.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil; add tofu and cook for 1 minute. Remove using a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Bring water back to a boil and add bamboo shoots; cook for 1 minute. Drain and set bamboo shoots aside.
• Mix vinegar and white pepper together in a bowl.
• Bring chicken stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Add bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and ham; return to a boil. Add tofu, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and salt; bring back to a boil.
• Mix corn flour and water together in a bowl until dissolved; stir into chicken stock mixture until soup starts to thicken. Drizzle beaten eggs into soup, stirring gently to form cooked egg clumps, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Stir vinegar-pepper mixture into soup and drizzle in sesame oil.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, brown pork in oil until no longer pink; remove meat and keep warm. Add mushrooms; saute until tender. Set aside and keep warm. , Add the broth, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce and pepper to the pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Return the meat and mushrooms to the pan. Stir in the tofu, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and vinegar. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes., In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in sesame oil. Garnish servings with onions.