How to Make Chinese Hot and Sour Soup at Home

This hot and sour soup recipe is a rendition of the beloved soup you commonly find at casual Chinese restaurants.

I order hot and sour soup at every Chinese restaurant I go to, it's my guilty pleasure. When I lived in San Francisco, I fell in love with a restaurant in the Outer Sunset. They serve dumplings, hand pulled noodles, and various soups. To this day, every trip to SF ends with a quick stop at Dumpling Kitchen for some of their Shanghai-Style Pan-Fried Pork Buns and delicious hot and sour soup. Since moving to Santa Cruz, I have less options when it comes to dining out. As a result, I’ve developed a habit of recreating recipes of my favorite SF dishes. Given that my nearest asian grocery market is 40 minutes away, I've tweaked this recipe to use ingredients that can be found in most common grocery stores.

Cooking notes:

• It’s a simple dish to prepare and can be eaten as a side or as a meal itself. Whenever I serve it as my main entree, I add more tofu and mushrooms to pack it with more protein.
• The upside of making it at home is that you have total control over the ingredients and can adjust the sodium level to make it healthier! 

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Hot and Sour Soup Ingredients:

• 6 cups water or chicken broth Sub chicken broth for vegetable broth to make it vegetarian friendly.
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp Sambal chili garlic sauce or Sriracha sauce (optional) Add more if you're looking for a spicier kick!
• 8 oz medium firm tofu This is approximately half a pack of tofu. medium firm, firm, or extra firm tofu all work well with this recipe.
• 4 oz wood ear mushroom
• 6 oz shiitake mushroom
• 8 oz canned bamboo shoots Drain the water from the can before adding
• corn starch slurry : 3 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 3 tbsp water
• 2 large eggs
• 1 inch knob ginger Skinned and grated
• 1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
• green onion (optional)
• white pepper

Directions:

1. Start by boiling the water or broth in a large pot. 
2. Whisk the cornstarch with 3 tbsp of water to create a paste. Set aside. 
3. While the broth is heating up, chop the ingredients into ½ cm squares and 1 inch strips. 
4. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce, and all the chopped ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 7 minutes. 
5. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the pot. You’ll notice that the broth will start to thicken. 
6. At this point, you can add additional ingredients to adjust the soup to your liking. For more spice, add more chili garlic sauce or white pepper. Add rice vinegar for more tang. Add additional soy sauce to make it saltier. If you want to thicken the soup more, create another cornstarch / water mix and add it to the broth. 
7. To create the egg ribbons, slowly add the whisked eggs while stirring the soup in a circular motion. Let simmer for another 2 minutes and then it’ll be ready to serve. 
8. Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with green onion and white pepper, and serve immediately!