Chinese Hot and Sour Soup Recipe

Chinese Hot and Sour Soup is perfect for soothing a sore throat, but you don’t need to be sick to enjoy it. This soup has great flavors that pair wonderfully together and is so easy to make at home. It’s incredible how quickly you can prepare a tasty, filling lunch! This quick authentic Chinese soup has an incredible taste with a light sour heat that pairs amazingly with the egg ribbons and mushrooms.

American Chinese takeout has that impressive element of surprise that makes you keep on ordering even though you promised yourself would stop! However, the effects may sometimes be unfortunate. One of them is the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (CRS). CRS refers to when people experience symptoms such as sweating and headaches after eating in Chinese restaurants. Doctors now call this the MSG effect, an additive used in restaurants and pre-packaged foods. Therefore, it’s more than advisable to prepare our own food more often. That’s why this Chinese hot and sour soup with tofu and mushrooms is best to be homemade!

How to Make Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

This authentic Chinese hot and sour soup is one of my family’s favorite recipes when the cold season starts! It’s a super hearty dish because of the egg ribbons and mushrooms we love to add and the flavor bouquet is the key element of surprise! It’s an impressive combo of hot and sour! Also, as if these weren’t enough, it’s one of the easiest soup recipes I know: you basically toss everything in the pot and let it simmer away.

Simple Ingredient List for this Chinese Recipe

Well, here is definitely a fun part! When preparing a homemade hearty soup, the best thing about it is that you can easily adapt it to your own taste and to whatever ingredients you have on hand. Also, you can consider the preferences of your little ones (for example, my best friend’s kids can’t stand tofu). So, transform this Chinese hot and sour soup and adapt the below ingredient list to your own taste. However, please keep in mind to let me know in the comment section below how you changed it!

• 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms (thinly sliced with stems discarded);
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar;
• 1/4 cup soy sauce;
• thinly sliced ginger to taste;
• 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce;
• 1/4 cup cornstarch;
• 2 large eggs, whisked;
• 8 ounces firm tofu (cut into 1/2-inch cubes);
• 4 green onions (thinly sliced);
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil;
• kosher salt and black pepper to taste.

In addition to the ingredients previously listed, you can also add other basic Chinese products in order to improve the dish. So, you can add toasted sesame oil or soy sauce for flavor, bamboo shoots, and wood ear mushrooms for more texture, and shredded chicken or pork for a nonvegetarian soup. If you want to make this soup with pork instead of tofu, just add in a half pound of cooked pork: ground pork, or you can thinly slice pork chops or pork loin.

Hot and Sour Soup Step-by-Step Instructions

Now, that you know what ingredients I love to use when preparing homemade hot and sour soup, it’s time to learn how to make it. To be honest, I find it more difficult to gather all the ingredients than to actually prepare the soup. Therefore, no matter what ingredients you choose to use, you just have to remember that there is a certain order (add from the toughest to the softest ingredients to the pot). Also, besides creating the egg ribbons, every step of this recipe is as easy as even a kid could follow it!

1. In a large stock pot, add mushrooms, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, chili garlic sauce, and water to boil. Stir everything to combine and heat over medium-high heat until the soup reaches a simmer.

2. While the soup is heating, whisk together ¼ cup of hot water and cornstarch in a small bowl until completely smooth. Then, once the soup has reached a simmer, stir in the cornstarch mixture and stir for 1 minute or so until the soup has thickened.

3. Continue stirring the soup in a circular motion, then drizzle in the eggs in a thin stream (while still stirring the soup) to create egg ribbons. 

4. Next, stir in the tofu, half of the green onions, and sesame oil (if using any).

5. Finally, add a pinch of salt and pepper to season it to taste.

If you’d like your soup to be sourer, feel free to add in another tablespoon or two of rice wine vinegar as well. Also, if you’d like a spicier soup, add in more chili garlic sauce. Serve immediately, garnished with extra green onions!

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Enjoy Your Chinese Dinner!

Finally, this is it: one of my family’s favorite Chinese soup recipes for every season! Why? Because of how easy is to prepare and the bouquet of flavors from all the vegetarian ingredients we love. All my friends just adore this hot and sour soup recipe as much as I love to prepare it with the easiest steps. In addition, as you could already notice, it is one of the most versatile recipes I know. You can add all sorts of extra veggies and flavors and adapt the classic traditional soup recipe to your own taste.

However, now it’s time for you to share your experience with the homemade hot and sour soup recipe with me. So, tell everything about the recipe in the comments section below. As well, please, don’t hesitate to ask any further questions about our favorite Chinese soup recipe. I will make sure to answer you as soon as possible!

Last but not least, if you are eager to find out more soup recipes that will impress any guest of yours, try to prepare the next ones too. They all include quick and easy step-by-step recipes that help you prepare the creamy soups in no time: