Hot And Sour Soup Recipe. All Variations

Hot and Sour Soup

One of my great favorites. Everything we love in Asian soups is right there. The deep dark rich broth is amazing and so easy to achieve in minutes. The spicy and pungent broth has lots of wonderful stuff floating it in. And it’s great to know it is almost as easy to whip up as its first cousin, Miso Soup.

This is where you watch those umami Asian seasonings do their magic in no time. It has only the added initial step: coating the chicken and stir-frying it before adding all remaining ingredients. Even that initial step disappears when you make a vegetarian soup with tofu, or even a fish soup.

Hot and Sour Soup is Versatile

In fact I am including the Miso Soup link in this recipe, for all variations. Just as long as you leave the eggs and the vinegar in the dish, you can play with as many ingredients and varieties as those I have listed in the miso soup. For those who don’t like it so hot, go easy on the heat and serve the extra spicing on the side: you’ll have a better chance to have everyone enjoy it.

The Soup Freezes Beautifully

Don’t divide it. Go ahead and make the full batch. Freeze what you are not serving; you’ll be mighty happy to pull a container out of the freezer for those days you are too harried to cook! And if you throw in some noodles, you got yourself a complete meal in a jiffy.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 6 chicken cutlets, cut into thin strips and blotted thoroughly dry with paper towels
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
• 3 quarts (12 cups) water
• 3 cups sliced shitaki mushrooms caps
• 2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 4 ribs celery, peeled and sliced thin
• 2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup bottled hot sauce, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch, diluted in a little cold water
• 1/2 cup white miso paste
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 6 scallions, sliced very thin
• 4-5 sprigs cilantro, tough stems discarded, minced

Instructions