Hot and Sour Soup That's Better Than The Take-Out

Posted by Dexie

A couple of weeks ago, on our way home from one of our nephew's birthday, my husband decided to visit the Chinese Take-Out restaurant near us to check it out. We didn't really go inside to eat in. He just went in by himself to order hot and sour soup. It has been a while since I made it and the last time we had some from a Chinese Buffet restaurant, it was very disappointing. After having a bowl my husband said, "I've had better Hot and Sour soup made at home". So I took that as cue to make my own a week later.

Hot and sour soup is actually a Japanese soup but is found on pretty much all of Chinese restaurants everywhere. And we've discovered last weekend, that even Mongolian restaurants serve it too as one of their soup options.

My recipe is based from a cookbook called Wok and Stir-Fry by Linda Doeser. It's one of the many many cookbooks I bought from The Border's. I said "based" coz I've changed a few things for my own and hubby's tastes. It's fairly easy to make once you have all the ingredients together. Wok is the best cooking ware for this soup.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pack of dried shitake mushrooms
2 boneless chicken breasts, sliced thinly in strips
8-ounce package tofu
1 can of bamboo shoots, drained
3 cans chicken stock
1 tablespoon(or more) Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 tbsp(or more) soy sauce
1 tbsp(or more) rice vinegar
salt and pepper
cornstarch and water mixture (2 tbsp of cornstarch and 1/2 cup of water, mixed all the way)
red pepper flakes, optional

I keep adding "or more" on some of the ingredients coz I've used more than what the recipe asks. To tell you the truth, I don't measure. I just add and judge the flavor by taste.

The shitake mushroom package should instruct you to soak 'em in warm water for about 30 minutes. This softens 'em up which will make the slicing easier.

Drain the mushrooms, squeezing out the excess moisture, then discard the hard stalk. Thinly slice the mushroms, chicken breasts, tofu and bamboo shoots.

Bring the stock to a rolling boil in a wok and add the shredded ingredients. Bring back to a boil and simmer until everything is cooked. Add the rice wine or dry sherry. I highly recommend using the rice wine instead of sherry. The sherry has sweetness in it. Unless of course you prefer it that way. Add the soy sauce and rice vinegar. Bring back to a boil, then add the cornstarch and water mixture. Stir as it thickens. Sprinkle red pepper flakes if you like it hot. We do :).

Once you pass the hurdle of making this soup for the first time, you'll be a pro. Surprise your family and friends for an Asian theme dinner and start them off with the Hot and Sour Soup :).

TAGS: Asian Dishes, Asian Reipes, Asian Soup, Chinese Dishes, Hot And Sour Soup, Japanese Recipes, Japanese Soup, Shitake Mushrooms, Tofu
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[ READER COMMENTS ]

1

Adam said:

Ooooh please don't waste the wonderful mushroom liquor! Soak the mushrooms in your chicken broth instead of water and retain!

Posted at 01:15 AM, on August 29 2008

2

John Daubney said:

I made this recipe last night Jan 25th/09
and found it to be relatively easy to prepare (for an amateur) and very tasty.

*I will be making it again.
Thanks

Posted at 05:20 PM, on January 26 2009

Hot and Sour Soup That's Better Than The Take-Out

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