The Hot & Sour Soup My Dad's Made 100,000 Times
Why this recipe
Most hot & sour soup recipes online are tested only a handful of times. My dad used to make this dish multiple times a day, every day, for 50 years and can make this in his sleep.
I know you'll love it as much as our community does! This recipe has over 1.5M views, 31.1K likes on YouTube.
This dish was a favorite at my parents’ old restaurant, and it’s often found on most Chinese takeout menus.
As popular as hot and sour soup is, interestingly, this wasn’t something my parents ate growing up in Guangzhou. As with a lot of Chinese dishes, the origin (or origins), are hard to pinpoint, but it’s likely further north where the weather is colder and the flavors are more heat-inducing.
(Our friends at Chinese Cooking Demystified also have a great write up on this in their own version of Hot and Sour Soup.)
Regardless of where the dish came from, it’s a perfect soup for a cold winter day that’s equal parts spicy and soothing.
Ingredients
Instructions
Chop tofu, mushrooms, veggies
Wash all the vegetables, and then chop them:
- seafood mushrooms (2 oz): cut away the roots, and cut the stems in half
- king oyster mushrooms (2 oz): cut in little strips.
- My dad only uses about half of one for this recipe, but feel free to use more.
- shiitake mushrooms (3 piece): cut into thin slices
- If you bought dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrate them in warm water for 10 minutes
- dried wood ear mushroom (0.25 oz): rehydrate in warm water for 10 minutes, then cut into thin slices
- tofu (14 oz): cut into thin strips
- carrots (2 oz): cut into thin strips
- red bell peppers (1 oz): cut into thin strips
- green onion (2 piece): mince
- tomato: dice into small cubes
For the tomatoes, my dad has a pretty cool technique:
- Cut off the end with the green stem, and cut the tomato in half
- Make cuts about 1 centimeter apart that just almost reach the edge of the tomato.
- Then, we’ll turn the tomato and make perpendicular cuts. Because the tomato is still held in place, it’s much easier to make these perpendicular cuts.
Prepare cornstarch slurry and eggs
In a bowl, mix together cornstarch (3 tbsp) and water (2 tbsp) with a spoon until it becomes an even slurry.
In another bowl, crack eggs and mix well.
For both of these, you'll need to mix them again later right before you pour them into the soup.
To save time for later, boil water (5 cup) in advance.
Heat wok with oil, chili
Set the stove to its highest heat setting, and start to heat up the wok.
Add a little bit of corn oil (1 tbsp), as well as our dried chili peppers (2 piece).
We'll heat and toss the chilies around the oil for about 1 minute as our wok heats up. The purpose is to add more of a spicy essence to the oil.
Afterwards, we'll take the chilies out of the wok. We won't need them anymore.
Add vegetables, flavors
Cook the diced tomatoes for 30-60 seconds, then add our boiling water (5 cup).
Next, we'll add white pepper (1 tsp) and stir for 15-30 seconds. It's important to add the white pepper before we thicken it with cornstarch, since it's much easier to mix the white pepper evenly across the soup base.
Then, we'll add salt (1 tsp), sugar (1 tbsp), light soy sauce (2 tbsp), and dark soy sauce (0.50 tbsp). If you prefer a darker look to your soup, you can add more dark soy sauce. Stir for 15-30 seconds.
And finally, we'll add our tofu, mushrooms, and vegetables (with the exception of green onion). Stir gently for 5-10 seconds.
Cover wok, bring to boil
Cover the wok with a lid. My dad opted for a smaller lid, which is supposed to help the wok come to a boil more quickly.
Once it's boiling (in about 3-4 minutes), we'll add the rest of our flavors.
Add cornstarch, egg, vinegar, sesame oil
Once the wok is boiling, we'll uncover the lid and add more character to our soup.
Cornstarch slurry
Since the cornstarch has probably settled, mix it up again with a spoon, and slowly pour in the cornstarch over the course of 50-60 seconds. Stir constantly.
Eggs
Beat the eggs again, and slowly pour in the eggs all around the wok, over the course of 20-30 seconds. Unlike Egg Flower Soup, we don't have to stir as we pour.
Vinegar, Sesame Oil
Add vinegar (2 tbsp) to the wok, as well as sesame oil (to taste).
In general, it's important to add the vinegar towards the end. In doing so, we aren't wasting its pungency by cooking and boiling it away.
For similar reasons, my dad also tends to add sesame oil last in his recipes.
At this point, you should taste the soup and see if it needs any adjustments. Hopefully you are as satisfied as my dad!
Plate, garnish
Almost done! Turn off the heat and transfer the soup into a bowl. Garnish with the minced green onions.
Call your loved ones over - it's time to eat!