Classic Hot And Sour Soup Recipes

HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Put the wood ears in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes to reconstitute. Drain and rinse the wood ears; discard any hard clusters in the centers.
• Heat the oil in a wok or large pot over medium-high flame. Add the ginger, chili paste, wood ears, bamboo shoots, and pork; cook and stir for 1 minute to infuse the flavor. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl, pour it into the wok and toss everything together - it should smell really fragrant. Pour in the Chinese Chicken Stock, bring the soup to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tofu and cook for 3 minutes.
• Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir until smooth. Mix the slurry into the soup and continue to simmer until the soup thickens. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in 1 direction to get a current going, then stop stirring. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs in a steady stream and watch it spin around and feather in the broth (it should be cooked almost immediately.) Garnish the hot and sour soup with chopped green onions and cilantro before serving.
• Put the chicken in a large stockpot and place over medium heat. Toss in the green onions, garlic, ginger, onion, and peppercorns. Pour about 3 quarts of cold water into the pot to cover the chicken by 1-inch. Simmer gently for 1 hour, uncovered, skimming off the foam on the surface periodically.
• Carefully remove the chicken from the pot and pass the stock through a strainer lined with cheesecloth to remove the solids and excess fat. Cool the chicken stock to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator, or chill it down over ice first.
• Yield: About 2 quarts

HOMEMADE HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Bring chicken broth to a simmer in a 2-quart saucepan. Add mushrooms, chicken, soy sauce, chile paste, and garlic. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add tofu, bamboo shoots, vinegar, and white pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes more.
• Combine water and cornstarch in a cup; stir until smooth. Add mixture to the soup and stir well. Let simmer until soup thickens, about 5 minutes more.
• Beat egg in a cup and slowly pour, in a fine stream, into the soup. Stir well and heat through for 30 seconds. Mix in green onions and sesame oil. Remove from heat; serve hot.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, brown pork in oil until no longer pink; remove meat and keep warm. Add mushrooms; saute until tender. Set aside and keep warm. , Add the broth, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce and pepper to the pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Return the meat and mushrooms to the pan. Stir in the tofu, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and vinegar. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes., In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in sesame oil. Garnish servings with onions.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• In a small bowl, soak mushrooms in 2 cups boiling water until softened, using a plate to keep mushrooms submerged, about 15 minutes. Remove mushrooms, reserving mushroom liquid, and thinly slice. In another small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 4 tablespoons water.
• In a medium saucepot, add mushrooms and mushroom liquid to chicken broth. Pour mushroom liquid carefully to leave behind grit (or strain it). Bring chicken broth, mushrooms, mushroom liquid, soy sauce, and pepper to a simmer covered. Add bamboo shoots, tofu, and scallions, reserving 4 tablespoons sliced green tops; simmer 5 minutes. Add cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes. Stir in vinegar. Remove from heat and add egg while stirring soup. Serve topped with remaining scallion.

MOLLY O'NEILL'S HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Soak the shiitakes and the wood ears separately in hot water to cover for 20 minutes. Remove any fat or gristle from the pork and discard. Cut the meat, across the grain, into 1/4-inch-thick slices. (You may partly freeze the meat to facilitate cutting.) Cut the slices into matchstick-size shreds and place in a bowl. Stir together the pork marinade ingredients and toss with the pork. Marinate for 10 minutes.
• Remove and discard the shiitake stems. Cut the caps into matchstick-size shreds. Cut away and discard the hard, bitter nib on the underside of the wood ears, then cut into matchstick-size shreds. Cut the tofu into thin slices and then into matchstick-size shreds.
• Combine the soup base ingredients in a large pot, and heat until boiling. Add several tablespoons of the hot broth to the pork shreds, and stir to separate; then add them to the pot and cook until they change color, about 1 minute. Skim impurities from the surface of the soup. Add the shiitakes, wood ears and tofu. Heat the mixture until boiling.
• Stir the water and cornstarch together and slowly add to the soup, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Continue to skim the surface to remove impurities. When the soup has thickened, add the soup seasonings. Stir to blend, and taste for seasoning. If the soup is not spicy enough, add more vinegar and minced ginger.
• Remove the soup from the heat. Add the eggs, slowly pouring in a thin stream. Stir the soup once in a circular motion. Transfer the soup to a tureen and serve immediately.

SIMPLE HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Place shiitake mushrooms and cloud ear mushrooms in a bowl of water; soak until softened, about 30 minutes. Drain and finely chop the mushrooms.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil; add tofu and cook for 1 minute. Remove using a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Bring water back to a boil and add bamboo shoots; cook for 1 minute. Drain and set bamboo shoots aside.
• Mix vinegar and white pepper together in a bowl.
• Bring chicken stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Add bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and ham; return to a boil. Add tofu, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and salt; bring back to a boil.
• Mix corn flour and water together in a bowl until dissolved; stir into chicken stock mixture until soup starts to thicken. Drizzle beaten eggs into soup, stirring gently to form cooked egg clumps, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Stir vinegar-pepper mixture into soup and drizzle in sesame oil.

CHINESE HOT-AND-SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring 3 cups chicken stock to a boil. Add chicken breast; poach until cooked through, about 12 minutes. Transfer chicken to a cutting board; slice in half crosswise, then into 1/4-inch-thick strips. Set aside. Pass stock through a cheesecloth-lined sieve set over a medium bowl; set aside.
• In a 6-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and onion, and cover. Saute, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 6 to 7 minutes. Add mushrooms, and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add reserved and remaining chicken stock, carrots, ginger, black pepper, cayenne, and salt; bring liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer until carrots are tender, about 3 minutes.
• Place cornstarch in a small bowl, and slowly whisk in soy sauce until cornstarch has dissolved. Whisk in vinegar. Slowly whisk cornstarch mixture into soup. Simmer until soup is clear, 5 to 7 minutes. Add reserved chicken, and continue simmering until chicken is heated through, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
• Slowly pour beaten eggs through a perforated spoon into soup. Cover and let stand 1 minute. Remove the cover, and gently stir. Add scallions and tofu. Ladle into individual bowls.