Authentic Hot and Sour Soup

This may look like a long recipe and could seem a little overwhelming, but once you cut everything up, it only takes about 30 minutes to put the soup together and it's done! The recipe looks long, because I do a lot of explaining as I go.

Authentic  Hot and Sour Soup

If you're one of those people who have not tried Hot and Sour Soup, you should really give it a try. I've eaten Chinese food all my life but had never tried this soup until the 90's when friends of ours in Salem, Indiana took us to a special Chinese restaurant. I still think of it as the best Hot and Sour Soup I've ever tasted. Since then, I haven't found any of the soup that even compared to what I ate in Louisville.

Being disappointed, I set out to look for a good recipe. As most of my friends know, not only do I crochet, but I like to cook as well. In fact, I may have as many cookbooks as I do crochet books. Even though I still love sitting down to look at a cookbook, I'm a huge Pinterest fan too. I probably have as many recipe boards as I do crochet boards. I looked at many Hot and Sour Soup recipes, trying to find one that had the most authentic ingredients. I also looked at several recipes on YouTube. As usual, I didn't find any one recipe, but took ingredients from several different recipes and I'm happy with the results. I hope you enjoy it and if you try it, let me know!

Note: please read the entire recipe before purchasing your ingredients, because I give tips that are important. I've done all the research for you, which took me days or weeks of searching, to come up with what I think is the best soup.

Mary Jane's Authentic Hot and Sour Soup

Authentic Hot and Sour Soup  (Mary Jane's recipe)

Ingredients

2 cups pork loin or chicken, cut into small pieces (I prefer pork with the soup, but it's great with no meat at all!)

8 oz pkg shiitake mushrooms, sliced
Note: You can buy the fresh at Kroger -or- the dried shiitake mushrooms at an Asian grocery store. I have used both, but the last time I used the dried, they were tough to chew, so I probably didn't let them soak long enough. An advantage of the dried is that they will keep forever and the bag is enough for 3 big pots of the soup. I really like the fresh better, I think.

8 oz pkg white button mushrooms, sliced

8 cups chicken broth or stock

1- 2 cans water chestnuts, sliced and then cut ¼ - ⅓ " wide

1 - pkg dried Lily Buds (from the Asian grocery store or online) This is what they look like.

1 cup wood ear mushrooms, dried, also called black fungus (Asian grocery store or online) This is what they look like when they're sliced. You can buy them whole but I buy them already slicked.

1 can sliced bamboo shoots, cut into matchstick size

⅔ - ¾ cup grated or julienned carrots

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated (or ¼ - ½ tsp powdered ginger)

1 bunch green onions, chopped (used as a topping in each bowl right before serving)

1-2 tsps fresh garlic, chopped  (or you could use ½ tsp garlic powder)

1-2 cups firm tofu, cut into small squares

3 eggs + 1 egg yoke, whisked into a small bowl

1-2 tsps SAMBAL OELEK

which is Ground Fresh Chili Paste (you can find the small jar, with a gold label, at most grocery stores in the Asian section for about $2)

Chinese black vinegar, rice vinegar or rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons Chinese Shaohsing Wine (or more)

2 tablespoons soy sauce (or more) I bought gluten free at the Asian grocery store but Kroger carries it too.

¼ - ½ tsp ground white pepper, added at end

1-2 tablespoons Toasted sesame oil (this is the most important ingredient to me and it has to say "toasted" on the front, or it won't be good. I use more than 2 tablespoons, but that's what gives it an authentic taste.

1 tsp sugar

Cornstarch or Arrowroot flour for thickening at the end

NOTE:
See more ingredients (below) for marinating the meat.

*Where to buy the Ingredients*

You can find most of these ingredients at your local grocery store, such as Kroger or Wal-Mart, but you'll need to buy the dried wood ear mushrooms and Lily buds, Shaohsing wine and black vinegar at an Asian grocery store or online. (The lily buds and wood ear mushrooms cost only about $2- $4 at an Asian grocery store, but cost more if you buy them online). Click on the links so you can see what each ingredient looks like if you're not familiar with it. I've read that the authentic Hot and Sour soup calls for the Chinese black vinegar, so that's why I bought it, but some people aren't crazy about the taste. If you just want to use Rice Vinegar or Rice Wine Vinegar and not buy the black vinegar, I think that would be fine. You wouldn't use it much anyway and this is the only Chinese recipe I have that calls for it.  Not all the recipes I found call for the black vinegar.

Preparation

Give yourself plenty of time to cut up the ingredients, either the day before or 2-3 hours ahead of time. You'll need to marinate the meat for a little while and soak the dried Wood Ear mushrooms and Lily buds. After the Lily buds and wood ear mushrooms have been soaked, you will want to cut them up in smaller pieces because they are really long! If you wait to cut up ingredients as you go, you will get way too stressed. Once everything is cut up, the rest is easy and takes only about 30 minutes to get done.

Soak the Lily buds and wood ear mushrooms in water for at least an hour, saving the liquid when finished soaking, to add to the cornstarch for thickening later.

Cut up the meat first and place in bowl for marinating. You need to marinate the meat 30 minute - 2 hours. You can actually skip the marinating. I didn't marinate last time and it was fine.

Marinate Liquid: (these measurements are not listed above)

1 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp Shaohsing wine

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp vinegar

Whisk ingredients together and stir into the bowl with meat.

Cut up the following ingredients and place in separate small bowls. You can put the chestnuts and shoots in the same bowl. Slice shiitake and button mushrooms. Cut up carrots, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, green onions, tofu and set aside. If you want to, you can put all the liquids in one bowl, then put them in the pot when it's time, at once. I like to measure the liquids ahead of time, just to make it easy to pour everything into the pot, which makes it quick and easy.

*Note: read below, before you start, of how I add everything.  If you want to just add all the ingredients at once, without sauteing the meat and vegetables, that is just fine. It's a little quicker and still tastes great.

Hot and Sour Soup

After meat has marinated, saute it in a large pot with 2-3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil until partially cooked. Set meat aside to add to soup later. Add vegetables (carrots, ginger, garlic, mushrooms) to pan, adding more oil if needed. Stir fry for a few minutes, then add bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. Add chicken broth and other ingredients (except green onions, white pepper, sesame oil and eggs) to the pot. Then add the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, cooking wine, and Sambal Oelek (chili paste). Now add the tofu. I add it toward the end so it won't get torn apart while stirring and simmering.

Taste to see if you need more vinegar for sourness, and more chili paste if it's not hot enough. If it needs more soy sauce (for saltiness), you can add a little more of that or you might choose to add a little more chicken broth (or instant with water, like I do).  I keep a container of instant chicken bouillon in case I need more chicken broth for this and other dishes. Let it simmer for a few more minutes. Next, add the white pepper. The recipes I read said the white pepper gives it that authentic taste, but it is also part of what makes the soup hot, so just add a little at a time, tasting it. I like the soup hot, but you may not like it as hot as I do. If there's someone in your family, especially kids, who don't like hot foods, you can always add less Sambal Oelek (chili paste) and white pepper, but add more of those things to your own bowl of soup if you'd like. This is what I do if it's not hot enough or sour enough (adding more vinegar and chili paste).

If you want your soup to have a little thickness to it make a slurry of 3 tablespoons cornstarch + 1-2 tablespoons cold water or mushroom liquid that you saved. Stir into soup and simmer a few minutes til it thickens.

Now, the last thing you need to do is add the eggs. If you've made Egg Drop Soup, you would add the eggs in the same way. If not, drizzle slowly (around the top), wait about 10 seconds, then stir the soup around gently through the liquid with a knife or fork.

**If you're interested, my Loaded Egg Drop Soup recipe is here.

If the soup tastes like you want it to, serve up in bowls and add green onions to top. I usually put the Sambal Oelek (chili paste) and white pepper on the table for those who like it extra hot. Sometimes I go to a Chinese restaurant ahead of time, and buy some of the crispy noodles to serve with the soup.

A cool thing to do is have a Chinese dinner and serve the soup in Chinese bowls and spoons you can buy at the Asian grocery store. The name of the one I go to in Dayton, Ohio is  called Far East Center at 116 Woodman Dr in Airway Plaza, next to the China Garden Buffet.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Please contact me if you have any questions!