Glossy, gooey and perfect. When I crave restaurant-style Chinese food at home, this is the first thing I think of. I make my comforting hot and sour soup recipe with a handful of easy to find ingredients – and it never takes me more than 15 minutes to whip up from start to finish.
I won’t beat around the bush. I’m watching my wallet. And, while I may crave Chinese food like 6 nights out of 7, ordering delivery or going out to a restaurant isn’t always in the budget. That’s why I decided to reverse engineer my favorite Chinese hot and sour soup. Since I have a weakness for gooey, silky Chinese soups, getting this one right at home with just a few odds and ends from my pantry was a revelation!
My favorite bit is the flossy ribbons of egg that lay suspended in the thick, umami Chinese stock. Incidentally, it’s the same draw for me when it comes to other eggy Asian soups – like classic Chinese egg drop soup and Japanese kakitamajiru. For this this hot and sour soup, I’m using chicken stock for a comforting, savory element – and bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms and tofu for texture and heft.
Table of Contents
Why I Love This
When I was a kid, my favorite night of the week was when we’d go to the Chinese buffet in our small town. My mom didn’t have a lot of money – but she always made sure we had family dinners together. Chinese food at a restaurant was her weekly splurge for my brother and me. My first course was always two egg rolls and a big bowl of hot and sour soup. The memories of how this soup tasted as a kid greatly informed me of how it should taste when making it at home. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Ingredients
Scroll to the bottom of this page for the full recipe steps and measurements.
- Chicken Stock: I use it as a comforting, savory base. Reconstituted powdered bouillon works too.
- Soy sauce: A splash of soy sauce adds earthiness and umami.
- White Vinegar: This provides the sour. It’s a must!
- Salt: I use kosher salt.
- White Pepper: This is hotter, sharper and more floral than black pepper. I use this all the time when making Chinese recipes at home.
- Shiitake Mushrooms: Earthy, springy and chewy.
- Tofu: I’m using medium-firm tofu, thinly sliced.
- Bamboo Shoots: I love bamboo shoots for their pliant crunch. Canned bamboo works just fine here.
- Egg: Just one whisked egg makes all the difference in this recipe. I stir it into the hot broth slowly to create thin ribbons as it cooks.
- Cornstarch: A cornstarch and water slurry thickens the broth and gives it that classic gooey texture I love in so much Chinese cooking.
- Sesame Oil: Just 2 teaspoons of sesame oil imparts a toasted nuttiness.
- Green Onions: Thinly sliced as a crisp textural element.
How To Make It
- Start the broth. Put the chicken broth, soy sauce and salt in a pot and bring to a boil.
- Add veggies and tofu. Add the mushrooms, bamboo shoots and tofu and lower the heat until the soup is simmering (little bubbles).
- Season and thicken. Stir in the vinegar, sesame oil and cornstarch slurry.
- Add the egg. Whisk the egg and slowly drizzle it into the soup in zig zag motions while stirring the broth with chopsticks.
- Garnish and serve: Ladle the soup into small bowls and top with fresh chopped scallions and a few drops of chili oil. Serve hot.
Expert Tips
- How to effectively add the cornstarch slurry. Before adding the cornstarch and water mixture, first make sure that it is well mixed (cornstarch and water will separate into water and cement if you let it sit too long – but you can remix it). Add the slurry slowly to the bubbling soup broth and stir constantly so no clumps form. The soup should thicken within 15-30 seconds or so.
- Getting the egg ribbons just right. To get light, flossy egg ribbons that are suspended throughout the thick broth, it’s important to add the egg slowly and disrupt the soup as the egg cooks so no large eggy clumps form. The best way is to use long cooking chopsticks and make little zig zag motions in the soup broth that disperse the egg into wispy strands.
Recipe Variations
- Make it vegetarian. Use vegetable or mushroom stock instead of the chicken broth.
- Use different tofu. I’ve tried this soup with sliced smoked tofu and sliced tofu skin – and and both versions were wonderful.
- Add meat. Many restaurant versions use thinly sliced roasted pork.
- Make it spicier. I use a few drops of homemade chili oil anytime I want to bring a little more heat. Store bought chili oil works too.
Storage and Reheating
Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Gooey Chinese dishes that were initially thickened with cornstarch tend to get watery and thin when stored in the refrigerator.
- Reheat leftover hot and sour soup in a small pan on the stovetop until bubbling.
- If the reheated soup is thin, slowly add additional cornstarch and water slurry (1:1 ratio). Add small amounts at a time and stir constantly until thick.
Frequently Asked Questions
You may need to add a bit more cornstarch slurry. Add slowly to hot soup and stir until it thickens. This should make it gooey and perfect.
It may need a bit more salt or vinegar or chili oil to hit the mark for you. However, my guess is that it’s missing MSG. Many Chinese restaurants add a bit of powdered monosodium glutamate to boost the savory, umami flavors in both soups and stir fries.
I find hot and sour soup has more of a slow burn than actual spice. The main contributor to the spice level is the white pepper. That has more of a sharp, floral and woody heat. The other spicy element is the chili oil (if you choose to add some at the end). Both ingredients can be increased or decreased to taste.
What to Serve with Hot and Sour Soup
Hot and sour soup makes a great appetizer or side. When I make it at home, it’s probably on a night we’re craving Chinese takeout – but I decide to do the budget conscious thing and cook instead. Here are some of the classic Chinese recipes I serve alongside this soup:
- Singapore Chow Mei Fun
- Moo Goo Gai Pan
- Chinese Eggplant With Garlic Sauce
- Honey Sriracha Tofu
- Chicken Egg Foo Young
- Cold Sesame Noodles
Did you like this recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comment section below!
Print
Hot And Sour Soup
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Diet: Low Calorie
Description
An authentic Chinese hot and sour soup recipe that only takes me 15 minutes to make from start to finish – with easy to source ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 10 shiitake mushrooms, sliced into strips
- 1/2 cup bamboo shoots, cut into thin strips
- 1 cup medium firm tofu, cut into bite size cubes
- 3 tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
- 1 large egg, whisked
- 2 stalks green onions, finely chopped
Instructions
- Start the broth. In a pot over high heat, add the broth, soy sauce, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
- Add veggies. Lower heat to a simmer (slight bubbling) and add the mushrooms, bamboo shoots and tofu. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Season and thicken. Add vinegar and sesame oil. Stir cornstarch and water mixture before slowly adding it to the soup. Stir soup constantly and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the egg. Turn the heat off and slowly drizzle the egg, while stirring the soup with long chopsticks. The stirring motion breaks up the egg thread.
- Garnish and serve. Serve hot and sour soup with scallions and chili oil (optional).
Notes
Store leftover hot and sour soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 155
- Sugar: 4.2g
- Sodium: 584mg
- Fat: 6.4g
- Saturated Fat: 1.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 14.2g
- Fiber: 1.6g
- Protein: 10.1g
- Cholesterol: 35.8mg
Questions and Reviews
My girlfriend makes this recipe for me and it is to die for. The flavors are delicious and the soup goes so well with so many meals. We often add extras like ramen noodles to make a meal out of it. I’m not a fan of mushrooms and its nice to have a bowl of hot and sour soup where I’m not fishing out the stringy black mushrooms. Yuck.
Thank you so much for this.
I love this! Thank you for the kind comment Josh, you made my day 🙂
This was super easy to make and great tasting. I added a can of bean sprouts and and small can of diced water chestnuts. This tasted much better than what I recently ordered and my local chinese restaurant. Loved it!
Great recipe! I adapted it to make it vegan and made some ingredient changes to suit my preferences- one being mung bean sprouts for crunch, instead of bamboo shoots. I just started my own food blog and the adaptation was my very first recipe post! You’re referenced and linked, of course 🙂
Thanks!
Thank you Kristen! Your blog looks great, keep up the good work! 🙂