Easy Hot and Sour Soup
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So much tastier (and FASTER) than delivery! 30 min start to finish. Made with homemade wonton strips. SO SO GOOD.
Featured Comment
I made it. I LOVED it! After making it, my daughter dragged me down to a favorite restaurant. Just to see, I decided to order Hot & Sour Soup there. Your recipe was better!! (That’s accounting for modifying the recipe for low-sodium) …and once you’ve made it, it gets easier every time … it’s totally become my “go to”.
Thank you!
reasons to make hot and sour soup
- Cozy, comforting and quick to make in 30 min or less
- Takeout favorite, tasting even better at home
- Best for cold-fighting, helping to clear congestion
what is hot and sour soup?
Hot and sour soup is a classic Chinese soup typically made with mushrooms, sesame oil, egg, cornstarch, and of course vinegar for its enhanced sourness.
tips and tricks for the wonton strips
- Homemade wonton strips goes a long way. Store-bought will save some time in the kitchen but the homemade version below requires only 2 ingredients and tastes so much more fresh, crisp and light-textured.
- Use a heavy pot. A heavy bottom pot, such as a Dutch oven, is ideal here for even heat distribution for the hot oil.
- Cook in batches. If too many wonton strips are added at once, the oil temperature will drop and the wontons will absorb too much oil, resulting in soggy wonton strips.
- Make ahead. The crispy wonton strips can be made 1-2 days in advance, stored in an airtight container at room temperature once cooled completely.
tips and tricks for the soup
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your soup. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Use reduced sodium soy sauce. Reduced sodium has less sodium and less salt without compromising flavor.
- Add more vinegar. If you like your soup particularly sour, add additional vinegar, to taste.
- Make it vegetarian. Use vegetable stock for the chicken stock, skipping the fish sauce as well.
- Mix it up. Swap out the tofu for cooked beef, chicken or pork.
what to serve with hot and sour soup
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Easy Hot and Sour Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Wonton wrappers are available at most grocery stores as well as Asian specialty markets by the refrigerated aisle, typically next to the tofu.
We recommend using a neutral oil with a high smoke point such as vegetable oil, canola oil or peanut oil.
Yes! The wonton strips can be made 1-2 days in advance.
White, cremini and wood ear mushrooms can be used as well.
For a more thicker consistency, add additional cornstarch (about 1-2 teaspoons) to the cornstarch-water mixture.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Easy Hot and Sour Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 3 (3.5-ounce) packages fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
- 7 cups chicken stock
- 1 (8-ounce) can sliced bamboo shoots, drained and cut into slivers
- ½ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- ⅓ cup seasoned rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons chili garlic sauce
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (8-ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cubed
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
For the crispy wonton strips
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 (12-ounce) package wonton wrappers, cut into strips
Equipment
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 1/4 cup water; set aside.
- Heat canola oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Stir in garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in mushrooms until wilted, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in chicken stock, bamboo shoots, soy sauce, rice vinegar, fish sauce, chili garlic sauce and pepper.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until flavors have blended, about 10 minutes. Stir in tofu.
- Stir in cornstarch mixture, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
- Gradually add egg in a slow steady stream, stirring with a fork. Cook until the eggs are set, stirring frequently to create ribbons, about 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat; stir in green onion and sesame oil.
- Serve immediately with crispy wonton strips.
For the crispy wonton strips
- Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat.
- Working in batches, add won ton strips to the Dutch oven and fry until evenly golden brown and crispy, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
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I love your videos! Thank you for having such a passion for cooking & sharing! I made this because I was craving my soup so badly, but I have to stay low sodium; that doesn’t work for a restaurant, lol.
I made it. I LOVED it! After making it, my daughter dragged me down to a favorite restaurant. Just to see, I decided to order Hot & Sour Soup there. Your recipe was better!! (That’s accounting for modifying the recipe for low-sodium, lol) …and once you’ve made it, it gets easier every time … it’s totally become my “go to” 🙂
Thank you!
Better than takeout! I just finished making my first pot of your Hot and Sour Soup. The recipe was easy to follow & used easy to find ingredients! Hot and Sour soup is my favorite. And now your recipe is my favorite too!
It made my nose run when eating this soup, which is always a good sign!
THIS SOUP is so bomb! I’m so stoked that now I can have it at home. This is one of the best Hot & Sour Soups I’ve ever had. The best part about this? * I * made it! Right here. In my own kitchen! THANK YOU for the wonderful recipes!!!
Best hot and sour soup I’ve ever had. Followed the recipe exactly. Couldn’t find regular chili garlic sauce so I used crunchy, maybe it’s all the same.
Love this soup. Best recipe I have found. I also would like to know more about the “seasoned rice vinegar”.
What kind of Seasoned Rice Vinegar do you use?
Absolutely delicious! So easy too! I used bone broth and 2 eggs. Will make again and again
This is absolutely delicious!
Yes. I absolutely love this recipe. It is delicious.
I followed the recipe closely since I am new to working with tofu and Asian food in general. The soup was amazing but it didn’t say when to put in the tofu. Being a novice and not having noticed when I read through the directions several times before starting, I was in a mad dash to search other recipes to figure it out on the fly. Otherwise, I added thinly sliced red radish and thinly sliced boneless pork and the recipe went smoothly. Will be adding this one to the keeper files!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Christine! The tofu is added in step 7.
7. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until flavors have blended, about 10 minutes. Stir in tofu.
Looks yummy! Definitely no to tofu and yes to chicken instead!
Wow, very impressed with this recipe! Thanks so much for providing it for us. I followed the recipe closely and was amazed by the deep, delicious flavors. Shiitake mushrooms rule!
Do so good! My husband and I were constantly making “yum” sounds. It took me a month to get shitakes so when I found them today I was excited to make this after work. Absolutely delicious! I will be making this regularly (when I can get shitakes). The only thing that made me slightly shake my head was the 15 minute prep time lol. But I wouldn’t pay almost twice the price for sliced mushrooms.
Yum! We love this. Even better on second day!
Do you have nutritional information for this recipe?
Excellent recipe! Didn’t have bamboo shoots or shiitake, but made with handful of button mushrooms, cabbage, carrots and celery!delicious!
I made this tonight for dinner. I added very thin slices of pork loin and sautéed those up with the garlic and ginger. My husband said it was better than either of the Vietnamese restaurants that we frequent. I totally agree. It was delicious served with a pile of fried wonton strips!! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Absolutely the best ever. Deep flavor and awesome just-right heat. Some viewers seem to think the won ton wrappers are made from scratch ~ I assumed you were talking about ready-made. I can’t imagine MAKING won tons!
Big Yummy. I didn’t have bamboo shoots or tofu so I used rice noodles. It was really really good. This is now my go to, hankering for Chinese or soup, recipe!