Additional Tips To Make Authentic Vegan Hot & Sour Soup
- Properly rinse and rehydrate the mushrooms: Rinse the mushrooms in warm water and then add them into bowls with hot water. The shiitake mushrooms will become 1.5x in side and the wood ear mushrooms will almost double in size. If the shiitake mushroom stems are still hard, cut it off and discard.
- Corn starch slurry: When making the slurry, use a whisk or fork. If you let the slurry sit, make sure to mix before pouring into the soup because the corn starch tends to sink to the bottom and youll end with lump-y soup.
- Add in the sesame oil, rice vinegar and white pepper LAST: And I quote, from a wise grandma. She said this is a super important step to ensure that the flavour of the vinegar and sesame oil stays and so that the white pepper doesnt become bitter.
Helpful Tools to Make Vegan Hot & Sour Soup
- Tofu Press: A kitchen staple if you love eating tofu! Makes it much easier then stacking heavy objects on top.
- Large soup pot: I made a smaller batch for this recipe post, however when making it for my family and myself, defiantly use a large soup pot.
If youre feeling under the weather or just looking for a comforting and satisfying asian soup, I assure you, this Vegan Hot and Sour Soup with Tofu will be your new go-to. Theres so much flavour and textures and itll defiantly get your sinuses opened up!
Useful Tips To Make Veg Hot And Sour Soup:
- If you like to keep the vegetables crunchy, saute them for a minute only, and then add water.
- To get a nice dark color of the soup, use dark soya sauce.
- Use either white distilled vinegar or rice vinegar.
- Do not add too much cornstarch; the soup should be liquid with semi-thickness.
- After adding cornstarch, immediately stir the soup to avoid cornstarch lumps.
- If you prefer this soup very spicy, add more green chili or chili sauce.
Vegan Hot And Sour Soup
I am not, nor ever will be an Egg Drop guy. ;Nope, I like mine SPICY! ;So this;Vegan Hot and Sour Soup is;absolutely PERFECT with just the right combination of heat and tang.
And the best part?
It only takes a handful of ingredients and maybe 30 minutes of your time to make this absolutely DIVINE Vegan Hot and Sour Soup.
Its thick;and tangy, and you can totally adjust the heat to make it as spicy as you like.
I use a jar of something called Chili Garlic Sauce for the heat in this soup. ;In my grocery store, its in the same section as the Jasmine Rice, Soy Sauce, and other Asian food items.
I cant pronounce the name ;but look for the Rooster on the jar. ; Ill include a link here so you can see what it looks like. ;This is an affiliate link and I will be compensated if you buy it.
And ladies, just;½ tsp was perfect for my wife and she does NOT do spicy.;
Serve this soup with some chopped green onions for garnish, and add a big bowl of sticky rice and you have a tasty and nutritious meal without any of the greasy mess of normal take-out.
And if you REALLY want to go all out, make up a batch of my Vegan Orange Chicken too..
Omgosh; pure heaven.
Lets go make some soup!
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And The Other Stuff In Hot And Sour Soup
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Bamboo;shoots ;sold in cans at large grocery stores , they have a crisp juicy texture and have a subtle taste. Mainly for texture in this soup.;Subs: Any vegetable with a similar texture that can be cut into strips, like carrot, green beans, stalk of broccoli or cauliflower, or Asian greens.;Use leftovers for stir fries, its ideal!
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FIRM Tofu Make sure its a firm tofu otherwise it will disintegrate when stirred. Squeeze the packet to be sure! If you can only get soft tofu, handle delicately and stir it in right at the end.
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Chicken ;I like to have a bit of protein in my Hot and Sour Soup, plus its poached in the broth so it adds flavour. But this is optional theres plenty of stuff in this soup even without!;Alternatives: Shrimp/prawns, pieces of fish.
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Eggs to make the signature silky egg ribbons!
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Shallots aka scallions, green onions
How To Create The Soup Base
Do not let the long recipe below scare you away. Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup is a highly versatile dish that requires only 4 core ingredients:
You see, you can use these ingredients to make the base of the soup and add whatever veggies you have on hand.
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Why You Need This Vegan Hot And Sour Soup
- Its made with simple ingredients
- Ready in less than 30 minutes
- Easily customizable use gluten-free sauces
- Allium-free
- It goes well with stir-fried rice vermicelli or rice
- Its so tasty with each slurp
If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends!
The Best Vegan Hot And Sour Soup
Do you know you can make this hot and sour soup, vegan at home with just a few ingredients? This recipe will surely satisfy any cravings for soup.
Are you a soup lover? I am! Since young, my nanny liked to call me soon wong which means soup king in Hakka. She told me I always like to drink my soup first before my meal. I still do it this way until now.
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The Best Chinese Soup For A Cold
Hot and Sour Soup is the BEST Chinese Soup for a cold! The clear broth, vinegar and spiciness are ideal for clearing chest and nasal congestion, and its a relatively light soup so its easy to digest.
So when you want something different to Chicken Noodle Soup or Chicken Rice Soup when youre feeling under the weather, try Hot and Sour Soup!
Hot And Sour Soupcan You Handle The Heat
Hot and Sour Soup is what I order when I go out for Chinese and am pretending/trying to be healthy.
Hot and Sour Soup is also what I order just because I love it.
OK, well along with;Spring Rolls, Chinese Corn Soup, San Choy Bow , Egg Foo Young and Sesame Toast. Its an all-out war of indecision, trying to decide what starter to have! #FirstWorldProblems
I never thought to make it at home until I happened across this recipe from Woks of Life. Its my go-to website for Chinese recipes, run by a Chinese American family who used to run a Chinese restaurant!
What is hot and sour soup??
Hot and Sour soup is a Chinese soup thats savoury, spicy and tangy. The broth is thickened and its filled with;mushrooms, tofu, bamboo shoots and silky egg ribbons. The flavour and textures in this soup are an addictive combination, making it a firm Chinese restaurant favourite!
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How To Make Hot N Sour Soup With Step By Step Photo:
How To Make It
While the list of ingredients seems lengthy, the making part is very straight forward. Also, this recipe;has a nice flow to;it;so it should be done from start to finish, including prep time, in about 40 minutes:
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Start by soaking the shiitake mushrooms to rehydrate them
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Pour the chicken stock into the pot and as its coming to the simmer, measure out and add all the flavourings
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While the chicken is poaching, get all the other stuff for the soup prepared
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Tip it all in the pot and finish by thickening the Hot and Sour Soup with cornstarch / cornflour and adding egg to make the egg ribbons
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How To Make Vegetable Hot And Sour Soup
1) First prep all the ingredients, chop the veggies and keep it aside.
2) Also dissolve the cornstarch into ½ cup of water.
3) Now heat the oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Once hot add chopped ginger, garlic, celery and onion.
4) Mix well and saute till onions become soft and translucent.
5) Then add rest of the veggies.
6) Mix well and saute for just 1 minutes. As we have chopped them pretty small they will get cooked fast.
7) Add water or vegetable stock.
8) Bring it to a simmer.
9) Add soya sauce.
10) Also add red chili sauce.
11) Mix well.
12) Now first stir the corn flour+water mixture as flour might settled down at the bottom of the bowl. Then pour it into the soup.
13) Taste the soup and add salt as required. If using salted vegetable stock then be careful. Also soya sauce is salty, so always taste first and then add salt accordingly.
14) Add pepper powder as well.
15) Mix well and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes or till the soup is thickened as per your liking consistency.
16) Lastly add white vinegar.
17) Stir well.
18) And soup is ready to serve.
Garnish the soup with some chopped green part of spring onion before serving. It is optional though.
What Ingredients To Use
Once youve nailed the soup base, you can tweak the recipe with many other ingredients. My favorite way of assembling a soup is by using:
1 protein + 1 to 2 ingredients to add texture + 1 to 2 fresh vegetables to add more nutrients + beaten eggs
For the protein, either tofu or other tofu products are a great choice. You can use them to add volume to the soup and turn it into a more substantial dish.
To add texture to the soup and make it more interesting, I love choosing from bamboo shoots, baby corn, rehydrated wood ear mushrooms, and water chestnuts. These ingredients may be dried or from a can.
For the vegetables, the options are limitless some delicious ingredients include Napa cabbage, spinach, kale, collard greens, green peas, and baby bok choy.
Lastly, I always add beaten egg to make the soup more scrumptious. You can skip this to make the dish vegan.
To make it easier to browse, here is a summary chart. Simply choose the vegetables you prefer to assemble your own vegetarian hot and sour soup!
Protein
- Bean sprouts
Are you ready to assemble your own Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup? Hope you enjoy, and happy cooking!
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it , take a picture and tag it on Instagram! Id love to see what you come up with.
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What Is Hot And Sour Soup
Hot and sour soup or is typically made with a variety of vegetables such as mushrooms, carrots, bamboo shoots, and often with pork, then thickened with cornstarch slurry.
You may be familiar with this soup especially if you have dined at a Chinese restaurant before. Its often served with crispy wonton strips and a side of extra vinegar or chili oil. This soup can be easily veganized while keeping the delicious flavor and you can see how to do this today.
I first tasted a vegetarian hot and sour soup at my professors home in Oklahoma. Holding that warm bowl in cold Oklahoma weather was definitely satisfying and a great memory. While I dont know the origin of this soup but I sincerely love the thickness and the vinegary taste of it.
Do you know the hot part of this soup does not come from chili? It actually comes from a good amount of white pepper added while making the soup. When white pepper is added and cook along with other ingredients, the peppery taste will slowly immerse into the broth and give you the heat.
But, many added a swirl of chili oil towards the end for an extra spicy punch. That being said, if you are not a big fan of spicy food, you will still be able to enjoy this soup with the pepper heat and not the spicy heat from the chili. This recipe is inspired by my Venerables and chef James .
Vegan Hot And Sour Soup Ingredients
- Dried Shiitake or fresh shiitake If you are using dried Shiitake mushrooms, do reserve the water that you used to soak them in.
- Wood ear mushrooms I love this for the crunch.
- Bamboo shoot fresh or in a can or chili oil.
- Carrot
- Mung bean thread or glass noodle
- Water Yes, you only need water, but feel free to use vegetable stock that is usually lighter than broth and has less celery taste.
- Seasoning vinegar, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, mushrooms seasoning, or vegetable bouillon.
- White pepper the most important ingredient for the peppery heat.
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How To Make Hot And Sour Soup At Home
To make this delicious soup, Id advice prepping up your ingredients first.
Chop all your veggies, mince ginger and garlic and set aside.
Heat oil, then saute minced ginger, garlic, and green chillies. Add in all the veggies next, stir-fry briefly until tender crisp. Then add water or stock and the sauces. Mix well and bring to a boil.
Add cornstarch slurry, cook until the soup thickens. Finish it off with a dash of vinegar. Dish out and garnish with scallion greens.
I know you get these hot and sour soup mix easily in stores, but trust me, nothing beats a bowl of piping hot, freshly made homemade soup! This oriental hot and sour soup recipe;is truly satisfying and makes for a light and filling weeknight dinner meal.; I hope you give it a try!
Which Broth Or Stock Is Best For Hot And Sour Soup
This robust soup is quite forgiving in terms of the broth you use. You can use homemade ones, boullion cubes, stock concentrates – all to good effect. If using a vegetable broth concentrate then I suggest adding 4 cups worth of the concentrate + 2 cups water and tasting before adding more. The reason is often those broths are so strongly flavored that in Hakka recipes they may not always work.
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Variations In Indian Hot And Sour Soup:
- Different vegetables: Here I have used green beans, carrot, cabbage, mushrooms and capsicum. As per your liking, you can skip some or add some more. You can add bean sprouts, bamboo shoots just like original recipe.
- Here I have chopped the veggies very finely because I prefer that way. But if you like and want veggies bigger then chop however you like. You can slice them as well.
Serving suggestion: Serve as a starter with your indo-chinese menu. During winter season, you can have it any time of the day.
Why Use Dried Ingredients
Dried lily flowers and dried shiitake mushrooms are the most common ingredients we use in daily cooking. This is because they last a long time in the pantry, are cheaper in cost, and they add amazing flavors and textures in a dish.
When rehydrating dried lily flowers and dried shiitake mushrooms, the re-hydrating liquid becomes a perfect vegetable broth. The marinating liquid might have a earthy or even muddy smell, but once cooked, this taste will disappear in favor of a rich savory aroma.
Unlike in French cooking, where chefs use expensive chicken or beef stock to make a soup, the Chinese soups that we serve daily are mostly made with water. Thats why the marinating liquid is so valuable, as it reduces the cost of a dish to a minimum.
If you rehydrate enough dried lily flowers and shiitake mushrooms, you can simply use the marinating liquid without needing extra vegetable stock.
On the other hand, if you do not have these dry goods on hands, you can skip them and use vegetable stock instead.
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How To Make Hot And Sour Soup:
To make this hot and sour soup recipe, simply
