Hot and Sour Soup
First, let me say that any recipe saying you can make hot and sour soup in 30 minutes is lying to you. The ingredients and chopping are so extensive that I easily knock out 30 minutes with prep alone. But don’t let that dissuade you from making this soup – it’s a gem of Chinese cooking and perfect to combat cold Winter nights.
Second, I nearly left my first YouTube rage comment watching second-generation Chinese kids recoil at the pungency of hot and sour soup. That’s the whole point! I wanted to shout. One whiff should clear your sinuses like you’d spent months at sea, and putting a whole bowl to your face should scorch your nosehairs clean off.
But that’s enough preamble. Let’s get down to business.
Table of Contents
1. What is Hot and Sour Soup?
Hot and sour soup is called “suan la tang” in Chinese. It literally translates to “sour, spicy soup.” (The Chinese can be a very literal people). It’s no surprise that it’s widely believed to originate from Northern China, with harsh winters that necessitated warming, hearty soups.
Hot and sour soup is, as its name suggests, hot and sour. These characteristics come from two key ingredients:
- The acidity is from a generous glug of Chinese black vinegar, a vinegar made from fermented rice. Chinese black vinegar is less face-puckering than plain white vinegar, with a subtle sweetness and savoury depth.
- The heat comes not from chili peppers but from finely ground white peppercorns. These peppercorns give this soup its signature heat that runs from your head to your toes – rather than just burning your tongue.
2. Equipment & Ingredients
Ingredients (full list in Recipe Card)
Equipment
- Wok (substitute a large pot)
3. Keys to this Recipe
1. Prepare all the ingredients ahead of time. This recipe has a substantial amount of soaking, marinating, julienning, chopping, whisking, slurry-ing. Do these before you even turn on the stove. This will make the actual cooking process much less hectic.
2. Trust the white pepper. This is what creates that “down to your toes” heat. Omitting this rips out the heart of hot and sour soup. (This recipe includes chili peppers, but those are just for an optional boost of spiciness.)
3. Save the flavourings for last. To keep the flavours of soy sauce, vinegar, white pepper, and sesame oil bright and punchy, save these ingredients to put at the end of your soup. However, if you want less heat or acidity, either reduce the amounts or add them to the soup earlier in the cooking process.
4. Step-By-Step Guide
STEP 1: Soak dried ingredients.
In a large bowl, submerge the dried shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and lily flowers in hot water. Put a weight, like a plate, on top of the dried ingredients to ensure they stay submerged. Set aside for 1 hour, or until all ingredients are rehydrated.
You’ll know when they are rehydrated when the shiitake mushrooms are soft and spongy all the way through – no hard bits in the middle.
STEP 2: Prepare the pork.
Julienne the pork into strips 2” long and ¼” wide. Place in bowl. Add salt, sesame oil, and corn starch. Mix well and set aside to marinate, while you prepare your other ingredients.
STEP 3: Julienne vegetables, mushrooms, and tofu.
Julienne the carrot, bamboo shoots, soft tofu, and rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and lily flowers. Aim for strips the same size as the julienned pork – 2” long and ¼” wide.
STEP 4: Fry chilis and ginger.
Slice ginger and slice chilis in half. Place wok on stovetop and set heat to “medium.” Add vegetable oil and heat. Add sliced ginger and halved chilis, and fry for 1 minute, or until chilis are slightly darker and ginger has slightly browned, and you can smell their aromas wafting in the air.
Do not overfry or they will burn.
STEP 5: Build soup.
Add chicken or pork stock. Heat until boiling. Add marinated pork, stirring what should be a big clump of pork to separate into individual strips. Cook 2-3 minutes until pork is just cooked through.
Add rest of the julienned ingredients (carrot, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, lily flowers, bamboo shoots, and soft tofu) and cook until soup is simmering again.
STEP 6: Add cornstarch.
In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water well until completely combined. Ensure no cornstarch settles at the bottom of the bowl. Pour the mixture into the soup and stir well to ensure it’s evenly dispersed. Heat until soup is just simmering again.
At this point we want to move fast. Cornstarch breaks down if left in heat for too long, which makes them lose their thickening properties.
STEP 7: Add egg.
In the same bowl you made the cornstarch slurry in, lightly beat 2 eggs. It’s absolutely fine if the mixture isn’t homogenous (i.e. you can still see separate parts of whites and yolks) – it adds to the visual variety of the soup.
Pour the eggs into the soup slowly with one hand, and stir soup slowly with the other. This will create beautiful egg “ribbons.”
Turn the heat off.
STEP 8: Add seasonings.
Add both soy sauces, black vinegar, white pepper, and sesame oil. Add salt to taste.
If you are thinking, “finally! Why did we wait until now to make our hot and sour soup taste like hot and sour soup?” – the reason is that the later these ingredients are added, the stronger they will be. Hot and sour soup is supposed to be strong and pungent. Adding our seasonings at the end of the cooking process helps them retain as much flavour as possible.
STEP 9: Garnish and serve!
Ladle into bowls. Garnish with cilantro and green onions. Serve immediately. Sip and say “ahhh!”
5. FAQs
What is in a hot and sour soup?
Hot and sour soup has a few key ingredients. Its heat comes from ground white peppers. Its acidity comes from Chinese black vinegar. In addition to a few other seasonings, hot and sour soup also has julienned vegetables, mushrooms, tofu pork, and lily flowers.
What gives hot and sour soup its colour?
The signature dark colour of a hot and sour soup comes from three sauces: light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and black vinegar. Dark soy sauce in particular is responsible for the deep brown hue – it’s much darker and less salty than light soy sauce.
What makes hot and sour soup spicy?
The spiciness of hot and sour soup doesn’t come from normal chili peppers, as you might expect, but from ground white peppercorns.
I do NOT recommend putting the ground peppercorns anywhere near your nose. The ground white peppers you buy, typically at Asian grocers, are very finely ground. Those suckers will take any chance to get airborne and if they reach your nose, it’s sneezeville, baby.
How do you thicken a hot and sour soup?
Use cornstarch to thicken your hot and sour soup. There are a few things to keep in mind when using cornstarch as a soup thickener:
- Never add cornstarch directly to boiling water. The cornstarch will immediately cook in clumps and leave you with blubbery starch balls. Mix tepid water with cornstarch in a 2:1 ratio, and pour this mixture into your soup.
- Mix the cornstarch slurry well right before you add it to the soup. Letting the slurry sit, for even a minute, will cause some of the cornstarch to settle down to the bottom of the water.
- Add cornstarch at the very end of the cooking process. Cornstarch needs heat to thicken, but too much heat breaks it down and your soup will thin out again.
How can I make hot and sour soup vegetarian?
This soup is perfect for going vegetarian because it’s already loaded with mushrooms, tofu, vegetables, and lily flowers. Simply swap chicken/pork stock for vegetable stock and omit the pork. The rehydrated shiitake mushrooms provide plenty of umami, so you won’t miss the meat at all.
6. Recipe Card
Hot and Sour Soup
Equipment
- Wok sub large pot
Ingredients
Pork Marinade
- 1/2 cup lean pork like shoulder, loin, or butt julienned
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sesame oil sub vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
Rest of Soup
- 1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms rehydrated and julienned
- 1/2 cup dried wood ear mushroom rehydrated and julienned
- 1/2 cup dried lily flowers rehydrated and julienned
- 1/2 cup carrot julienned
- 1/2 cup bamboo shoots julienned
- 1/2 cup soft tofu julienned
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 dried chilis halved, optional
- 1 thumb ginger thinly sliced
- 6 cups chicken or pork stock low sodium, preferably Chinese-style
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/3 cup black vinegar sub rice vinegar or equal mix of white and balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp white pepper
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- green onion and cilantro garnish, optional
Instructions
- Soak dried ingredients. In a large bowl, submerge shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and lily flowers in hot water. Put a plate on top of the dried ingredients to ensure they stay submerged. Soak for 1 hour or until rehydrated.
- Prepare the pork. Julienne pork into 2” x ¼” wide strips. Place in bowl. Toss with salt, sesame oil, and corn starch. Set aside to marinate.
- Julienne vegetables, mushrooms, and tofu. Cut carrot, rehydrated mushrooms, lily flowers, bamboo shoots, and tofu into 2” x ¼” wide strips to match the pork size.
- Fry aromatics. Heat vegetable oil in wok over medium heat. Slice ginger and halve chilis, and fry for 1 minute or until slightly toasted and fragrant. Do not overfry or they will burn.
- Build soup. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add pork, stirring when in the stock to separate strips. Cook 2-3 minutes until cooked through. Add remaining julienned ingredients.
- Add cornstarch. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water well until completely combined (this is called a “slurry”). Ensure no cornstarch settles at the bottom of the bowl. Pour the slurry into the soup and stir. Heat until simmering.
- Add egg. Lightly beat 2 eggs in the same bowl used for the cornstarch slurry. Pour the eggs into the soup slowly with one hand, stirring the soup slowly with the other. Turn heat off.
- Add seasonings. Add both soy sauces, black vinegar, white pepper, sesame oil, and salt to taste. Adding these at the end keeps their flavours strong and pungent.
- Garnish and serve! Ladle into bowls. Garnish with cilantro and green onions. Serve immediately. Sip and say “ahhh!”