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.
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.