This restaurant-style Hot and Sour Soup recipe is the best!! It’s quick and simple to make, easy to adapt to your personal taste preferences, and so delicious.
Can’t stop, won’t stop with the soup recipes this winter. ♡
And today’s recipe is one that I’ve been meaning to share with you on the blog for years, after literally dozens and dozens of you have requested it. (This usually comes up when I’m chatting about my favorite egg drop soup recipe — apparently many of you usually opt for the hot and sour soup at your favorite Chinese restaurants and have wanted to learn how to make it!)
Well, good news, friends! Traditional hot and sour soup is actually incredibly easy to make as well. And the bonus of making it at home is that it’s also incredibly easy to customize to your taste. Like it extra hot? Add in more chili garlic sauce. Like it extra sour? Add in more rice wine vinegar. Like it vegetarian? Make it with tofu. Like the meat version? Just add in some pork.
Trust me, this is one of those restaurant recipes that will taste just as good at home. And on chilly winter weeks like this one that we’re having here in Kansas City, it’s guaranteed to warm you up in the most delicious of ways.
Hot And Sour Soup Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Hot and Sour Soup Ingredients:
To make this hot and sour soup recipe, you will need:
- Broth: Either chicken or veggie stock (or broth) will do.
- Mushrooms: I highly recommend using shiitake mushrooms, but baby bella or even button mushrooms would also do.
- Rice vinegar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, ground ginger: To flavor the broth.
- Cornstarch: To thicken the broth.
- Eggs: Which we will whisk, and the drizzle into the soup to make those lovely egg ribbons.
- Firm tofu: Which we will cube and add to the soup.
- Green onions: To stir into the soup and also sprinkle on top as a garnish.
- Toasted sesame oil: An essential flavor in the soup, which we will drizzle at the very end.
- Salt and pepper: Hot and sour soup is traditionally made with white pepper, which (heads up) has a different and much stronger flavor than black pepper. I recommend adding in a pinch, and then you can always add in more later. Or if you don’t have white pepper, black pepper will also do.
- Optional: Many restaurant versions of hot and sour soup are also made with bamboo shoots. I’m personally not a fan of them, but you are welcome to add some in if you would like.
How To Make Hot and Sour Soup:
To make this hot and sour soup recipe, simply…
- Make your cornstarch slurry. Whisk together 1/4 cup of the stock and cornstarch until combined. Set aside.
- Bring the soup to a simmer. Add the remaining stock, mushrooms, bamboo shoots (if using), rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and chili garlic sauce to a large stock pot, and cook until the soup reaches a simmer. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and continue cooking for a minute or so, until the soup has thickened.
- Drizzle in those beautiful egg ribbons! While stirring the soup in a circular motion with one hand, use your other hand to slowly drizzle the whisked eggs into the soup.
- Season the soup. Stir in the tofu, half of the green onions, and sesame oil. Then season the soup with salt and black pepper (or white pepper) to taste.
- Serve. Ladle up your servings while the soup is nice and hot, garnished with extra green onions.
What To Serve With Hot & Sour Soup:
Here are a few of my favorite dishes that pair well with hot and sour soup:
- The BEST Fried Rice
- 12-Minute Chicken & Broccoli
- 20-Minute Moo Shu Pork (or Chicken)
- Beef & Broccoli
- Thai Basil Chicken
- Sesame Noodles with Broccoli and Almonds
- Black Pepper Chicken
More Favorite Soup Recipes:
If you love egg drop soup, feel free to check out these other favorite soup recipes:
Hot and Sour Soup
Ingredients
- 8 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms (or baby bella mushrooms), thinly-sliced with stems discarded
- 1 (8-ounce) can bamboo shoots, drained (optional)
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar, or more to taste
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 large eggs, whisked
- 8 ounces firm tofu*, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- Kosher salt and white pepper (or black pepper)
Instructions
- Set aside ¼ cup of the chicken or vegetable broth for later use.
- Add the remaining 7 ¾ cups chicken or vegetable broth, mushrooms, bamboo shoots (if using), rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and chili garlic sauce to a large stock pot, and stir to combine. Heat over medium-high heat until the soup reaches a simmer.
- While the soup is heating, whisk together the ¼ cup of broth (that you had set aside) and cornstarch in a small bowl until completely smooth. Once the soup has reached a simmer, stir in the cornstarch mixture and stir for 1 minute or so until the soup has thickened.
- Continue stirring the soup in a circular motion, then drizzle in the eggs in a thin stream (while still stirring the soup) to create egg ribbons. Stir in the tofu, half of the green onions, and sesame oil. Then season the soup with salt and a pinch* of white pepper (or black pepper) to taste. If you’d like a more “sour” soup, feel free to add in another tablespoon or two of rice wine vinegar as well. Or if you’d like a spicier soup, add in more chili garlic sauce.
- Serve immediately, garnished with the extra green onions.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!This post contains affiliate links.
What a great, simple recipe! It is the best hot & dour soup that I’ve ever eaten. I must admit that I used twice the amount of mushrooms; 1 Tbsp of the chili-garlic sauce; the bamboo shoots; pork instead of tofu; and I added two carrots cut into matchsticks with the mushrooms. My guests stated that it is a killer recipe!
Made this last night and we loved it. Per your notes, we added pork belly instead of tofu. We have not tried anything like this recipe and we really enjoyed it. We will make it again. It was so quick and easy and delicious.
Follow-up to my last comment, forgot to mention:
-I doubled both the chili and vinegar and it tasted just right to me
-I used tapioca starch instead of corn starch because I couldn’t find corn starch at my local Asian market. The ratio is to use 2x more tapioca starch to 1 part corn starch.
Question: I teach a vegan cooking class and I want to make a version of this recipe. Any ideas of a vegan substitute that would give a similar outcome to egg?
Thank you!
You’ve probably figured this out by now – it’s been a year – but for others – JUST egg is a terrific egg substitute made of mung beans. I’m going to try it in this soup tonight.
Yuba (tofu skin) is a great substitute for the egg!
This turned out absolutely delicious! Just the right amount of thickness!
I tend to like mine a little hotter and more sour, so I added a touch more of the chili garlic sauce. In addition, I added these tiny mushrooms I love called enoki mushrooms which add a wonderful texture.
I have been ordering hot and sour soup from every restaurant in town in hopes of finding one that tastes like this. Now I know I can make a better version myself!
Will definitely be making this again. Simple, authentic and delicious flavors.
This recipe is great and so easy! I’ve made hot and sour soup the ‘traditional way’ before and it takes so many ingredients that you have to buy… I had nearly everything on hand for this recipe and it is even better than traditional! I didn’t have tofu or meat, I just used mushrooms and green onions and the flavor is spot on. I agree with upping the vinegar (I used white) and chili paste. Don’t turn your back on the eggs ribbons until they’re cooked, I did and I ended up with up with big pieces of egg in the soup, my fault though; recipe is great!!
This is better than any hot and sour soup I’ve ever eaten at a restaurant! I tweaked it just a bit to my desired hotness and sourness (more is better). I took some to my daughter and she agreed that it was so goo, she ate two large bowls at one time. I am making another batch today, it’s that good!
I made this tonight, terrific! I doubled the mushrooms and sriracha and upped the ginger. I live 20 miles from any place I could get this, and this recipe is great. Wish I had tofu but it was good with chicken
Simple and delicious
I have made it 4 times now. First 3 times I made it more sour and more spicy. This last time I followed the recipe exactly as written. My guests loved it and had two servings each but it wasn’t zingy enough for me. After my guests left I added more vinegar and chili sauce to bring it up to my taste. For me it was a complete success at supper and my leftovers were even better. Tofu not pork. Bamboo shoots. About 10 oz. of mushrooms to stretch the recipe. This recipe is THE BEST! I’ll have a hard time finding a restaurant that serves a comparable soup. – A
Delicious and easy!! Happened to have most ingredients on hand except I only had one green onion, but it turned out great. I used firm silken tofu, which I thought tasted great in this soup. Thank you very much for this recipe! I will definitely be making it again. May try freezing a jar of it – has anyone had any luck with that?