Easy Hot and Sour Soup
So much tastier (and FASTER) than delivery! 30 min start to finish. Made with homemade wonton strips. SO SO GOOD.
It’s been a cold winter here in Los Angeles. One of the coldest, really.
Then, it was 71 degrees F yesterday afternoon! Yet all I wanted was this entire pot of soup. This warm, cozy, hot and sour soup without ever having to leave the house at all.
And you know what? This homemade version turned out to be so stinking amazing – so easy and so much faster than delivery. No joke.
Made in 30 min from start to finish, this was absolute perfection. And I served it with all the crispy wonton strips.
SIDE NOTE: These homemade wonton strips definitely take the soup to its next level goodness. Please do not skimp on these bad boys.
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 won ton wrappers, cut into strips
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet 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.
- 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 won ton strips.
Did you make this recipe?
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This was fantastic. I added a little more vinegar and chili sauce for kick but otherwise made mostly as written. Thanks!
Snowy spring day and made this for the first time. Everything was delicious and super easy. I was out of rice wine vinegar so I subbed apple cider. No issues there. Also, we’re not big on tofu in this house so I used chicken instead. Will definitely keep this in the rotation.
This sounds wonderful! I love-love hot and sour soup and my husband has always wanted to try it but he has a mushroom allergy (so sad cuz mushrooms are awesome!). I’d like to make this for him, adding a meat as a protein but I can’t think of anything that would substitute for the mushrooms. There really isn’t one….. Is there??
You can try to add ground beef but I have never tried it myself so I can’t really say for sure – sorry!
I made this soup and I have to say this is one of the best soups I have ever eaten. Delicious!! My only regret is that I didn’t make a double batch!!
Can you use portobello mushrooms instead of shitake? Just curious..
Yes.
I made this for dinner last night and it was a huge it! My husband who works nights just called to tell me how much he liked it (he had the leftovers for lunch today). I added an extra table spoon of vinegar, an extra tea spoon of Sriracha and a can of bamboo shoots that I julienned for some crunch. Damn delicious!
This was so easy to make and takes so much cheaper and better than the restaurant. Hubby kept saying how wonderful it was and he loved it, which is surprising because he is not a soup lover. Will be going into the regular dinner rotation. Definitely a keeper! Thank you!
Hello! Can you please tell me if the eggs get fully cooked in this soup? I can’t have raw eggs so I wanted to be sure before I tried making it! (I’ve never put eggs in soup like this before…) Thank you!!
Yes, the eggs cook through.
Very good recipe, though I never tried with tofu (as I don’t like that)…with small slices of chicken or pork, it’s just perfect.
I sometimes added other vegetables, like white onions, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini or soybean sprouts…always with excellent results (though you could argue this will be a different kind of soup…but these are all ingredients that are commonly available in China, and that don’t really change very much to the overall flavour of the soup, but make it even more filling…anyway I have at each try been happy with the result).
I would however not omit sesame oil, which seems to be an essential ingredient to me.
I am not using sriracha, but I add white pepper and rice vinegar at the end (just before serving)…that leads to a much more intense hot & sour taste.
Eggs can be omitted, but it will of course not be the same soup anymore.
It will still be excellent – I can confirm, because I tried it – but a little bit different.
As for freezing this soup, I would not suggest that, as eggs and cornstarch will cause problems in the process.
I would rather try – though I never did so far – to freeze the soup without those two ingredients, and then add them when reheating the whole thing.
Rice vinager vs apple cider?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I’m going to make this to go with the Pioneer woman’s Thai Noodle recipe and some egg rolls. That will be my Sunday dinner. I love this soup and I’m making it minus the tofu. Substituting chicken. I’ll let you know how my homemade Chinese dinner goes over to family. Thank you for this simple, easy to make recipe. I keep all of these ingredients plus some in my kitchen everyday. So all I have to do is cook it. Thank you once again.
hi Chungah,
do you have a preference when you buy chicken broth, I don’t seem to find a particular one I like, and you can spoil a soup with a mediocre chicken broth.
I actually do not have a preferred brand.
I made this tonight for supper. OMG was it ever so good! I ended up using half veggie broth because I didn’t have enough chicken stock. Definitely a keeper! Thank you for sharing.
Hi CHUNGAH ,
Please let if no if there is any substitute of sesame oil because i could not find this nearby groceries shops.
You can omit.
Can you freeze this soup?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Made this yesterday for lunch, and it was great! I love a good hot & sour soup, but most restaurant versions are painfully salty and not hot or sour enough for me. This has a great depth of flavor that doesn’t need a ton of sodium, and I was able to punch up the spice and sour to my own taste. My skeptical boyfriend, who swears by a popular chain’s version, said this was “actually pretty good”.
We made it and it was great!!! Thank you!!!
Can I replace RIce vinegar with apple cider vinegar?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Made for dinner tonight, ohhhhh so good. I made it exactly a printed. My tummy is so full and happy. Thanks so much for sharing. Ordered your book, so excited to get it.
If I use ground chicken or turkey, Do I cook the meat first before adding to the soup?
Yes.