Go Back
–+ servings
Print Pin

Hot and Sour Soup

This healthy Hot and Sour Soup recipe is busting with authentic Chinese flavor but is easy to make at home with pantry friendly ingredients. It’s a meal-in-one that tastes like you’ve slaved away for hours but literally requires less than 15 minutes on the stove! This Hot and Sour Soup recipe is warm and satisfying, laced with peppery, vinegar, soy, garlic, ginger undertones bursting with juicy pork, delicate tofu, meaty mushrooms, mildly crunchy bamboo shoots and wispy eggs. It is easy to customize to your own tastes by swapping the pork for chicken, swapping the veggies and/or making it more or less “hot" or “sour.” Now get ready for restaurant delicious Hot and Sour Soup all cooked in one pot for an easy meal any day of the week!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

Pork

  • 8 oz. pork tenderloin sliced thinly into 2" pieces (may sub chicken thighs)
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Soup

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or peanut oil
  • 8 oz. shiitake mushrooms stemmed, sliced ¼” thick
  • 4 green onions, chopped white and green parts separated
  • 1 tablespoon Asian chile sauce
  • 1 5 oz. can bamboo shoots drained, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 8 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
  • pinch of sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
  • 7-8 oz. firm tofu
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 large eggs lightly beaten in a pourable measuring cup
  • 1/3 cup Chinese black vinegar (may sub with 1T balsamic and 1T red wine vinegar)
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon ground white pepper more or less to taste
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  • PORK: Whisk soy sauce, cornstarch and sesame oil together in a medium bowl. Add pork, stir to coat; let rest while you prep the tofu and veggies (up to 30 minutes).
  • TOFU: Meanwhile, place the tofu in a pie plate, top with a heavy plate and weigh down with 2 heavy cans (to release water). Set aside for 10 minutes while you finish prepping the ingredients and begin cooking the soup.
  • MUSHROOMS AND AROMATICS: Heat oil in a Dutch oven or soup over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté 3 minutes. Add the pork, white part of green onions, chili paste and bamboo shoots; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add ginger, and garlic and cook for additional 1 minute.
  • SIMMER: Add broth, soy sauce and a pinch of sugar; cover and bring soup to a boil; uncover and simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, chop tofu into 1/2-inch cubes.
  • THICKEN: After 5 minutes, whisk in the cornstarch slurry, followed by tofu, green onions and sesame oil; simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes.
  • EGGS: Reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Begin stirring the soup in one direction to create a "whirlpool" effect. Slowly drizzle the whisked eggs into the soup while continuing to stir the soup in the same direction. The eggs will spread and feather into ribbons; remove from heat.
  • VINEGAR ANAD PEPPER: Just before serving, stir in vinegar and pepper.
  • ADJUST SEASONINGS: Taste soup, if you’d like a more “sour” soup, add additional vinegar, for a spicier soup, add additional chili sauce or white pepper.

Notes

TIPS AND TRICKS 

  • Freeze pork.  It is much easier to slice pork (or any protein) if it is partially frozen.  Place it in the freezer for about 30 minutes prior to slicing.
  • Marinate pork. This might seem like one extra step but is definitely worth it. It tenderizes the pork, protects it from overcooking and infuse it with flavor.
  • Use firm tofu.  Make sure you purchase firm or extra firm tofu, or the cubes may fall apart in the soup.  Draining the tofu allows it to absorb the flavorful broth instead of being full of flavorless water.
  • White pepper vs. black pepper.  I don’t recommend substituting black pepper for white pepper in this recipe because it is one of the starring flavors.  If you do, know the end result will not taste the same as white pepper is more floral and earthy with greater complexity but less spicy than black pepper.  If you do use black pepper, start with less and add more to taste. 
  • Prep ingredients before you start cooking. While the pork is marinating, take the time to chop all your ingredients because once you start cooking, the ingredients are added in quick succession and if you have to pause, you will overcook the pork.
  • Use pourable measuring cup.  Whisk the eggs in a pourable measuring cup. The spout will make the eggs easy to pour in a thin stream.  If you don’t have a measuring cup, you can add them to a anything with a spout like a pitcher or transfer to a plastic bag and snip a tiny corner off.
  • Fully dissolve cornstarch off heat.  Do not attempt to add the cornstarch slurry until the cornstarch is fully dissolved otherwise it will stay clumpy and never dissolve once added to the hot soup.
  • Stir stock.  Stir the stock/broth occasionally while it comes to a boil so the cornstarch doesn’t settle at the bottom.
  • Stir stock slowly when adding eggs.  You can stir the stock as rapidly as you like to create the whirlpool, but you’ll want to slow down once you start adding the eggs, otherwise they can dissolve into almost unrecognizable wisps.
  • Speed of stirring = thickness of egg flowers.  The speed at which you stir the stock when adding the eggs will determine how thin or thick your egg ribbons “egg flowers” are.  For small, thin egg flowers, stir more quickly (but remember, not too rapidly), for thicker, even chunkier egg ribbons, stir more slowly. You can also vary your stirring speed to create a variety of thin and thick egg flowers.
  • Slowly add eggs.  You don’t want to add the eggs too quickly or it will lower the temperature of the broth.  We want the broth to stay nice and hot so the eggs almost instantaneously cook which helps them feather into long ribbons and not clump.
  • Add “hot and sour” only when ready to serve.  Hold the vinegar and pepper until the very end and only add when everyone is literally gathered at the table and you’re ready serve.  Even a few minutes of sitting can dramatically dull the vinegar and pepper and require freshening splashes and sprinkles to punch the flavor back up.

Prep Ahead

Hot and Sour Soup is best served fresh so I don’t recommend making it entirely ahead of time. Instead, you can prep the ingredients in advance so it can come together in minutes – literally.
  • Pork:  slice the pork ahead of time and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  You may also marinate the pork up to 30 minutes ahead of time.
  • Drain tofu:  drain tofu and chop up to days ahead of time; store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  • Vegetables and Aromatics: chop the mushrooms, grate the ginger, mince the garlic and chop the green onions and julienne the bamboo shoots.  Store the mushrooms in a separate airtight container and the ginger, garlic, white part of green onions, and bamboo shoots in a separate container (because the mushrooms are cooked first and then the rest of the ingredients are added).

CAN I REHEAT HOT AND SOUR SOUP RECIPE?

Hot and Sour Soup is best eaten right away as the eggs don’t maintain the same texture when reheated.  That being said, you can still reheat the soup, just be aware it’s not like most soups that get better with time. Take care when reheating to not heat at too high of heat – you don’t want to scramble the eggs or they can get rubbery.  Low and slow is the name of the game.
  • Stove: heat over medium low heat, stirring occasionally until heated through.
  • Microwave: transfer individual servings to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then warm at 15-second intervals, as needed, taking care not to over-heat.