How To Make Hot and Sour Soup

Hot and Sour Soup

This staple of Asian restaurants is quick and easy to make and to make gluten free. While soy sauce is almost exclusively used in restaurants, putting this dish off the menu for those of us with celiac or gluten intolerance, this soup is great made with Tamari.

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Here is a video of 2 Cooks in the Kitchen making Hot and Sour Soup

Ingredients For Hot and Sour Soup

  • 3 Shiitake Mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/4 Cup Woodear Mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 Eggs
  • 4 Cups Chicken Broth
  • 1 small can Bamboo Shoots
  • 6 oz Frozen Tofu Cubes
  • 1/2 tsp Red Chile Flakes
  • 1/4 tsp Hot Chile Powder (to taste)
  • 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
  • 2 Tbls Tamari
  • 1/4 tsp Sugar
  • 2 Tbls Corn Starch
  • 3 Tbls Water
  • 2 Tbls Vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp Sesame Oil
  • 1 Green Onion, Sliced
Photo shows the ingredients for Hot and Sour Soup
Ingredients For Hot and Sour Soup

Soak The Dried Mushrooms

We’ll start by putting our mushrooms in a bowl, covering them with boiling water and soaking them for 15 minutes to soften them.

Photo shows hot water being poured over the mushrooms
Soak the Mushrooms

Mix the Eggs

Next we’ll crack the eggs into a bowl and scramble them with a fork. We want these to be ready when our soup is ready for them so we are doing this ahead.

Photo shows 2 eggs being beaten in a bowl
Beat the Eggs

Start the Soup

We’ll get the soup started by putting the chicken broth in a large stock pot. You’ll want to have plenty of room in the pot because we’ll be stirring it vigorously at one point. We’ll turn the burner to medium-high heat because we want the broth to boil.

Photo shows four cups of chicken broth
Chicken Broth

Bamboo Shoots

While we wait for the broth to boil we’ll add our other ingredients, starting with the bamboo shoots. We use a whole 4 oz can, drain them and just leave them whole. You can also cut them smaller, in strips, if you prefer.

Photo shows the can of Banboo Shoots going into the pot
Add Bamboo Shoots

Frozen Tofu

We love to use frozen tofu for this recipe. Frozen tofu has a lot more texture and absorbs more of the soup flavor. When you freeze tofu the water in it freezes in bubbles and leaves air pockets when it melts. Then the soup penetrates these air pockets and fills the tofu with juicy flavor. We just cut tofu into bite sized cubes, put them on a cookie sheet and freeze. We’ll store the cubes in a freezer bag until we want to use them. We thaw them out first but you wouldn’t have to.

Photo shows the tofu pieces
Add the Tofu

The Mushrooms

Next we’ll add our reconstituted mushrooms. Since the water we put on the mushrooms is now mushroom flavored we’ll just add the whole bowl to our soup.

Photo shows chicken broth, bamboo shoots, tofu and mushrooms in the pot
Broth, Bamboo Shoots, Tofu and Mushrooms

Tamari

Next we add the Tamari. In restaurants we’ve only seen this soup made with soy sauce but since we are making this gluten free we are using Tamari which is basically a gluten free soy sauce.

Photo shows Tamari being added to the soup
Add Tamari

Pepper and Chile Flakes

We are going to add a couple different kinds of pepper. First we’ll add red chile flakes. We’re using 1/2 teaspoon but you can add more or less to suit your taste. We’ll also add 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. If you like your soup hotter you can also add some chile powder.

Photo shows black pepper being measured
Add Black Pepper

Sugar

We find that a lot of Asian recipes use a little sugar almost like you would use salt. The sugar is used to bring out a lot of the other flavors. For this soup we will just add 1/4 teaspoon to get that effect.

Photo shows one quarter teaspoon of sugar being measured
Add Sugar

Corn Starch Slurry

While we wait for the soup to boil we will make a corn starch slurry which is our thickener. We’ll mix 3 tablespoons of water with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in a small bowl. This way we can make sure it doesn’t have any lumps. We have found the best tool for mixing this is a small whisk.

Photo shows the corn starch and water being mixed
Mix Corn Starch and Water

Stir Slurry Into Soup

Once our soup has reached a full, rolling boil we will stir in our corn starch slurry. You want the soup to be boiling hard and the soup should thicken right away. If your soup isn’t boiling hard enough it won’t thicken properly. You’ll want to keep stirring for a minute or so to prevent lumps from forming.

Photo shows the corn starch mixture being poured into the boiling soup
Add the Corn Starch Slurry

Add the Eggs

Now we’ll turn down the heat and add our eggs. First we want to stir the eggs a little more because they have been sitting. Then we’ll make a whirlpool in our soup pot and pour the eggs in very slowly so we create ribbons of egg in our soup. If your whirlpool isn’t fast enough or you pour the eggs too fast you will get clumps of egg rather than ribbons. We’ll let this cook for a minute and then turn off the heat.

Photo shows the eggs being poured into the pot
Slowly Add the Eggs

Vinegar

The sour in our hot and sour soup comes from the vinegar. We are using regular distilled white vinegar here but this is also good with rice wine vinegar. You may want to adjust the amount to get a little more sour in your soup.

Photo shows vinegar being added to the soup
Add Vinegar

Sesame Oil

We’re going to put a few drops of sesame oil as kind of a finishing oil on our soup. We’ll use toasted sesame oil for this as it has a stronger flavor that complements this soup well.

Photo shows Sesame Oil being added to the soup
Add Sesame Oil

Green Onion

The last thing our soup needs is the sliced green onion. We’ll put these in, give it a good stir and our soup is ready to serve.

Photo shows sliced green onions being added to the pot
Add Green Onions

Serve

Hot and sour soup can be served simply by itself or you can serve it with a side such as fried rice. One Cook likes to add chile oil to his. Either way this is an enjoyable gluten free recipe for this restaurant classic.

Photo shows a bowl of hot and sour soup with chile oil added
Optional Chile Oil

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Photo shows a bowl of Hot and Sour Soup

How To Make Hot and Sour Soup

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  • Author: 2 Cooks in the Kitchen

Description

This staple of Asian restaurants is quick and easy to make and to make gluten free.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3 Shiitake Mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/4 cup Woodear Mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 Eggs
  • 4 cups Chicken Broth
  • 1 small Can Bamboo Shoots
  • 6 oz Frozen Tofu Cubes, thawed
  • 1/2 tsp Red Chile Flakes
  • 1/4 tsp Hot Chile Powder (to taste)
  • 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
  • 2 Tbls Tamari
  • 1/4 tsp Sugar
  • 2 Tbls Corn Starch
  • 3 Tbls Water
  • 2 Tbls Vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp Sesame Oil
  • 1 Green Onion, Sliced

Instructions

  1. Slice and rehydrate the dried mushrooms. Slice the shiitakes into thin strips. The woodear usually come in small pieces. Put the mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak for 15 minutes.
  2. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and scramble them with a fork.
  3. Put the chicken broth into a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the bamboo shoots, tofu, chile flakes, chile powder, black pepper, tamari and sugar. Bring to a rolling boil.
  4. Mix 2 Tbls corn starch and 3 Tbls water in a small bowl. Once the soup is boiling hard add the cornstarch slurry, stirring constantly to thicken. Stir and cook for 30 seconds.
  5. Reduce the heat and stir the soup in a circular motion, creating a whirlpool in the pot. Slowly pour the eggs into this whirlpool, creating ribbons of cooked egg. Let this cook for about 30 seconds.
  6. Turn the heat off and add the vinegar, sesame oil and green onions. Serve immediately.

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