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Hot And Sour Soup

Hot and Sour Soup

This is a classic Chinese-American soup that balances spicy, savory, and sour flavors. The key to the texture is rehydrating dried mushrooms for a chewy bite and thickening the broth with a cornstarch slurry at the end. The egg is drizzled in while stirring to create thin ribbons, not clumps.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Soaking Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients

For the Soup Base

  • 0.5 oz dried Shiitake mushrooms
  • 0.5 oz dried Wood ear mushrooms
  • 3 quarts chicken stock
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 3/4 tsp ground white pepper
  • 6 Tbsp white vinegar

For the Add-ins & Thickener

  • 12 oz firm tofu cut into thin strips
  • 1 can bamboo shoots 8 oz, julienned
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 large eggs beaten

Method

  • Soak shiitake and wood ear mushrooms in hot water for 1 hour until soft. Slice into strips.
  • Bring chicken stock to boil with sugar, salt, soy sauces, and sesame oil.
  • Add sliced mushrooms, tofu strips, and bamboo shoots. Return to simmer.
  • Whisk cornstarch with cold water to make slurry.
  • Slowly stir in half the slurry until soup begins to thicken. Add more if needed.
  • While stirring soup in circular motion, slowly drizzle in beaten eggs to create ribbons.
  • Turn off heat, stir in white pepper and vinegar.
  • Adjust seasoning with additional vinegar or white pepper to taste.

Notes

Continuous stirring while adding eggs is essential for proper ribbon formation.