Chinese · Lunch or dinner

Hot and Sour Soup

Name: Hot and Sour Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 14 oz soft tofu, cut into 1/4-inch matchsticks; ½ oz dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked 20 min in hot water, sliced thin - reserve soaking liquid; ¼ oz dried wood ear mushrooms, soaked 20 min, sliced thin; 1 cup canned bamboo shoots, drained, sliced into matchsticks; 1 small carrot, julienned; 6 cups vegetable stock; 3 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tsp dark soy sauce; 4 tbsp black vinegar (Chinkiang); 1 tsp white pepper; 2 tsp sugar; 3 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 1/4 cup cold water; 1 large egg, lightly beaten; 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil; 2 tsp chile oil; 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced; 3 scallions, thinly sliced (for serving)

Silky tofu, shiitake, bamboo and black vinegar tang and white pepper heat.

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Prep: 20 min
Cook: 15 min
Makes: 4 servings
Skill: Comfortable
Heat: Medium, adjustable

Vegetarian Halal Contains soy Contains gluten Contains sesame Contains eggs

Maui says

The heat comes from white pepper, not chile - that's why it tingles in your throat instead of your tongue. If you want to crank it up, add more white pepper before chile oil. The vinegar gets stirred in OFF heat or you boil off the sour.

Ingredients

Everything below makes 4 servings.

14 ozsoft tofucut into 1/4-inch matchsticks
½ ozdried shiitake mushroomssoaked 20 min in hot water, sliced thin - reserve soaking liquid
¼ ozdried wood ear mushroomssoaked 20 min, sliced thin
1 cupcanned bamboo shootsdrained, sliced into matchsticks
1 smallcarrotjulienned
6 cupsvegetable stock
3 tbspsoy sauce
1 tspdark soy sauce
4 tbspblack vinegar (Chinkiang)
1 tspwhite pepper
2 tspsugar
3 tbspcornstarchmixed with 1/4 cup cold water
1large egglightly beaten
1 tbsptoasted sesame oil
2 tspchile oil
1 tbspfresh gingerminced
3scallionsthinly sliced (for serving)

In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.

Nutrition

Per serving, as written.

220calories
14gprotein
18gcarbs
10gfat

Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.

Instructions

Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.

Before you start

Soak shiitake and wood ear mushrooms in 2 cups hot water for 20 min. Squeeze dry, slice thin, save the soaking liquid (strain through a coffee filter).
Cut tofu, bamboo shoots, and carrot into thin matchsticks.
Mince ginger; slice scallions.
Whisk cornstarch with 1/4 cup cold water for the slurry. Lightly beat the egg.

Build broth

Combine vegetable stock and the mushroom soaking liquid in a large pot. Add ginger, soy sauces, sugar, and white pepper. Bring to a simmer.

5 min · hands on

Add veg

Stir in mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and carrot. Simmer 5 minutes until carrot is just tender.

5 min · hands on

Thicken

Add tofu matchsticks. Re-stir the cornstarch slurry and pour into the pot in a slow stream while stirring. Simmer 1-2 min until the soup turns silky and coats the back of a spoon.

2 min · hands on

Egg ribbon

With the soup at a gentle simmer (not boiling - boiling makes the egg cloudy), pour beaten egg in a thin stream while slowly stirring in one direction with chopsticks or a fork. Egg ribbons form in 10 seconds. Turn off heat.

1 min · hands on

Finish and serve

Off heat, stir in black vinegar, sesame oil, and chile oil. Taste - adjust vinegar (sour) and pepper (hot) to your liking; the soup name is the dial. Ladle into bowls, top with scallions.

1 min · hands on

Make it yours

Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.

Instead of soft tofu and egg ribbon Add shredded chicken

Add 6 oz shredded poached chicken with the tofu. Adds about 5 minutes.

Instead of soft tofu and egg ribbon Tofu only (no egg)

Skip step 4 egg stream - soup is silkier from cornstarch alone.

Gluten free Tamari for soy sauce, tamari for dark soy sauce, for black vinegar

Also add 0.25 tsp molasses for color and depth. Check label - many Chinkiang vinegars contain wheat.

Vegan For large egg

Skip the egg stream step entirely.

What keeps

Soup keeps 4 days. Re-thicken with a tiny cornstarch slurry if it loosens.

Add fresh scallions per bowl.

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