International kitchen

Hot and Sour Soup

Name: Hot and Sour Soup
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: International
Ingredients: 6 cups chicken stock or broth (or 4 cups water and 4 chicken bouillon cubes); 4 ½ tablespoons soy sauce; ⅓ cup cooked shredded chicken or pork; ¾ cup mushrooms, diced; ¾ tablespoon garlic chili sauce; ⅓ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper; ⅓ cup white vinegar; ½ cup canned bamboo shoots, julienned; 4 ½ oz block of tofu, cut into ¼-inch dice; 3 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water; 1 egg, beaten; 3 green onion stalks, diced (including tops); ¾ teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Soup Hot and sour soup is a popular soup served at Chinese restaurants in the United States. This version tastes exactly like that served at various Chinese restaurants in California.

PrepNot statedCook20 minServes4LevelMedium

Cook with confidence

Before you start

A quick setup makes the method easier to follow and keeps important steps from being missed.

Preparation checklist

Read all 8 method steps from beginning to end.
Measure and arrange all 13 listed ingredients.
Set aside about 20 minutes, based on the time recorded by the source.

Recipe notes & preparation tips

Adjust vinegar, ground black pepper, garlic chili sauce and soy sauce to taste. American vinegar is much more acidic than its Chinese counterpart, so start with very little and add slowly.

Add or remove mushrooms, bamboo shoots, or tofu as needed. These three ingredients don't add much to the taste, mostly they add to the texture of the soup.

Adapted from the source recipe's notes.

Step by step

Method

01
Bring chicken broth to a simmer in a 2-quart saucepan.
02
Add soy sauce, shredded meat, mushrooms and garlic chili sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes.
03
Add black pepper, white vinegar, bamboo shoots, tofu. Simmer for 5 minutes.
04
Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water in a cup. Stir until mixture is smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to soup and stir well.
05
Simmer for 5 minutes until soup is thickened.
06
Beat egg in a cup until yolk and white are combined. Pour beaten egg slowly, in a fine stream into soup. Stir soup several times, then wait 30 seconds.
07
Add green onions and sesame oil to soup. Stir well and remove from heat.
08
Serve hot.

Ready to serve

Serve the dish as directed and enjoy it while it is at its best.

Bon appétit — enjoy your meal!

Transparent sourcing

Source & licence

This recipe was adapted and reformatted from Wikibooks Cookbook . Text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Image: CC BY-SA 2.0, credited to Nagarazoku; view original image record .