Hot & Sour Soup (30 Minute Recipe) - My Spice Pantry (2024)

Hot & Sour soup is one of my favorite starters to get at a Chinese restaurant. Its thick, spicy and flavorful, which makes it the perfect soup. I think it’s one of those soups that is actually filling since there is a protein and veggies in it. This recipe can also very easily made vegan by omitting the egg or using something like Just Egg (I haven’t tried it, but worth a shot).

What goes in Hot & Sour Soup?

• Cornstarch Slurry: This is essential to make the soup thick and creamy!
• Broth: You can use any broth you have on hand, chicken or vegetable broth would be the most neutral tasting. You can also use bouillon cubes or paste.
• Mushrooms: sh*ttake mushrooms would be the best tasting, I used baby bella for the accessibility.
• Tofu: My FAVE tofu is the Nasoya Super Firm tofu. It is by far the best tasting and texture tofu in my opinion. It is very very firm and hold’s it’s shape.
• Aromatics: Fresh ginger, garlic and chili pepper. I used Fresno Peppers because I think it adds the best flavor and heat.
• Soy Sauce: I used regular soy sauce, if you are using low sodium, you might have to add additional salt.
• Rice Vinegar: This is the “sour” part of the soup. The perfect ingredient to balance the heat. You can substitute for regualr white distilled vinegar if you don’t have rice vinegar.
• Sesame Oil: I used chili sesame oil for some extra heat, but regular sesame oil works just great. You don’t need much of this, so be sure to measure it.
• Chili Garlic Paste: Another element of heat (I like spicy food lol), this also adds a bit of acidity since it is fermented chilis.
• Scallions: One of my favorite herbs/vegetables! Adds just a bit of zing to any dish, don’t recommend skipping this.
• Eggs: I used two whisked eggs in this recipe, also works well with 1 whole egg and one egg white. Feel free to omit to make this vegan.

Additions and Substitutions

One of my favorite things about this soup is that you can add or remove anything you want. Here are some additions and substitutions for Hot & Sour soup:

• Tofu: Definitely a controversial ingredient, so you can either fully remove it or substitute it for chicken or pork.
• Additional veggies: Carrot matchsticks, Bamboo shoots, shredded cabbage, or even sliced onion.
• White pepper: I unfortunately have never used white pepper, but I need to. This is a very popular ingredient in this soup, but use a small amount to start since it is supposed to be stronger that black pepper. Until I get my hands on some white pepper, I will be using black pepper.

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