Hot and Sour Soup

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Show: Food 911Episode: Chinese Spare Ribs

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (37)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(37)

Cook Time:
1 hr 20 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
4 to 6 servings

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: 30 min
Cook: 1 hr 20 min
Total:: 2 hr 20 min

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Ingredients

4 dried Chinese fungi (about 1 ounce), such as wood ears or cloud ears
2 tablespoons canola oil
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon red chile paste, such as sambal oelek
1/2 cup canned bamboo shoots, sliced
1/4 pound barbecued pork, shredded
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
Pinch sugar
2 quarts Chinese Chicken Stock, recipe follows
1 square firm tofu, drained and sliced in 1/4-inch strips
3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Chopped green onions and cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions

Put the wood ears in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes to reconstitute. Drain and rinse the wood ears; discard any hard clusters in the centers.

Heat the oil in a wok or large pot over medium-high flame. Add the ginger, chili paste, wood ears, bamboo shoots, and pork; cook and stir for 1 minute to infuse the flavor. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl, pour it into the wok and toss everything together - it should smell really fragrant. Pour in the Chinese Chicken Stock, bring the soup to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tofu and cook for 3 minutes.

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir until smooth. Mix the slurry into the soup and continue to simmer until the soup thickens. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in 1 direction to get a current going, then stop stirring. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs in a steady stream and watch it spin around and feather in the broth (it should be cooked almost immediately.) Garnish the hot and sour soup with chopped green onions and cilantro before serving.

Chinese Chicken Stock:

1 (4-pound) whole chicken
1 bunch green onions, halved
4 garlic cloves, smashed
3-inch piece fresh ginger, whacked open with the flat side of a knife
1 onion, halved
1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
About 3 quarts cold water

Put the chicken in a large stockpot and place over medium heat. Toss in the green onions, garlic, ginger, onion, and peppercorns. Pour about 3 quarts of cold water into the pot to cover the chicken by 1-inch. Simmer gently for 1 hour, uncovered, skimming off the foam on the surface periodically.

Carefully remove the chicken from the pot and pass the stock through a strainer lined with cheesecloth to remove the solids and excess fat. Cool the chicken stock to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator, or chill it down over ice first.

Yield: About 2 quarts

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Hot and Sour Soup
Donna Seattle, WA 09-22-2009
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Almost as good as Flo's!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I'm addicted to the hot and sour soup from Flo's in Scottsdale, but I don't live there, so I go through withdrawal all but... one week a year. When I can't stand it anymore, I'll order hot and sour locally, but it's never "right" for me. Finally - I've found something close, and I can make it at home just the way I like! (I usually slurp the broth and leave the "extras" for my hubby, who can eat anything.) Like others, I used the chicken that I made the stock from in the soup, rather than buying pork. I detest mushrooms, so left them out of the soup, but I did simmer a package of dried with the stock for the flavor (it's just the texture I hate). I'm allergic to soy, so left the tofu out of course. Thinly sliced some water chestnuts and added that to the soup, adjusted vinegar and white pepper to my taste, and I'm in hot and sour soup heaven. Thanks Tyler. Read more
recipe Hot and Sour Soup
Steffi Plymouth, MN 09-22-2009
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♥♥♥ this soup!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

What a fabulous soup! I love this soup so much that I always make a double batch and freeze some of it in individual bags to... take to work. It's absolutely incredible! When I don't have a lot of time, I use storebought chicken broth and it still turns out pretty good.Read more
recipe Hot and Sour Soup
Dee Fallbrook, CA 03-23-2009
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I won't buy take-out Hot and Sour Soup ever again!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

After making this, this weekend- here are a couple of comments.... 1. If you don't already do this...definately get... out all of your ingredients after making the broth-to finish the soup and prep them. 2. Watch the heat from the red chile paste, such as sambal oelek - it is hot stuff (and I like hot). 3. I used poached chicken breast which I shredded instead of the pork. 4. This worked well to make the chinese broth- I added to boxed low salt chicken stock, the spices and vegetables, then poached the chicken in the broth-then set the cooked chicken in the fridge until I was ready to finish the soup. 5. You can use dried Shitake mushrooms. For extra flavor, I saved the broth from re-hydrating the mushrooms, and added it to the chicken broth. 6. Another time saver is to use an egg slicer to slice the tofu. Medium firm tofu has the same texture as a hard boiled egg and it works like a dream! 7. Do rinse your canned bamboo shoots at least 3 times, to remove the "canny flavor". I doubled the recipe-as we like leftovers. Everyone loved this- I look forward to making it a household staple. Read more
recipe Hot and Sour Soup
Ashley Winston-Salem, NC 02-26-2009
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Better than some Chinese Restaurant's soup....
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I have made this recipe many times and my boyfriend and I love this soup! Tyler's recipe's are always sooooo good and they... are easy to make (even the intermediate ones). I trust every recipe he has to be the best. This hot and sour soup recipe is better than any chinese restaurant's that I have been to. I was amazed at how wonderful and flavorful this soup was. It is definitely a hit with me and my family!Read more
recipe Hot and Sour Soup
Joy Olathe, KS 01-30-2009
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Add fish sauce
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

As I was making this recipe, I tasted it multiple times and although I could taste the bitterness from the rice wine vinegar,... it wasn't hitting the mark for me as what it tastes like in the restaurant. I decided to add a few dashes of fish sauce (found in the local Asian market) and the taste became spot on what I expected. Absolutely wonderful and perfect. I would recommend that you can find the very similar wood ear mushroom in a dried thinly sliced form. Alot of times the package just says "fungus"Read more
recipe Hot and Sour Soup
Darlene Tucson, AZ 01-10-2009
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Absolute family favorite
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Tyler has captured the flavors my family loves in hot and sour soup. Extremely easy to make and sometimes I cheat with a... rotisserie chicken and add broth. My family is very picky about their chines food but this has been a favorite in our house for years.Read more