Chinese Hot & Sour Soup
An easy to make soup that cooks up in just a few minutes but tastes like it took hours to make. This savory, soury soup is sure to please.
Ingredients
- 8 oz firm tofu, cubed
- ¼ cup soy sauce, divided
- 3½ tbsp Cornstarch, divided
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 8 oz. pork tenderloin, cut into thin matchstick size strips
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tsp water
- 1 large egg
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 5 oz can bamboo shoots, drained and cut into matchsticks
- 1 oz dried Shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and thinly sliced
- 5 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
- 2 tbsp Shoaxing cooking sherry
- 2 tbsp Rice wine vinegar
- 2 tsp chili oil
- 1 tsp finely ground pepper
- 3 stalks green onions or a handful of chives, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Place block of tofu on a paper towel lined plate and top with a heavy pan. Let tofu drain for 15-20 minutes, until it releases about a ½ cup of liquid.
- Once tofu has released it's liquid, cut tofu into ½ inch cubes. Set aside.
- Place dried mushrooms in enough boiling water to cover mushrooms and allow mushrooms to soak for 20-30 minutes or until they are soft and mushrooms are fully rehydrated. Drain and slice. Set aside.
- Slice pork tenderloin into thin strip and then into matchstick sized pieces.
- In a small dish, whisk together 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Add sliced pork.
- Stir to coat sliced pork with soy/sesame/cornstarch marinade. Set aside to marinate for 20-30 minutes.
- In a small dish, combine 3 tablespoons water with 3 tablespoons cornstarch. Set aside.
- In another small bowl, combine egg, ½ teaspoon cornstarch and 1 teaspoon water. Beat egg to combine. Set aside.
- In another small bowl, combine 5 tablespoons black vinegar, 2 tablespoons Shaoxing sherry, 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons chili oil, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 3 tablespoons soy sauce. Stir to combine ingredients and set aside.
- In a large stockpot bring chicken broth to a boil over medium high heat.
- Stir in sliced bamboo shoots and sliced mushrooms.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes, until mushrooms and bamboo shoots are tender.
- Add marinated pork to the pot and stir to separate pieces.
- Stir in tofu and continue to simmer soup until pork it cooked all the way through, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in reserved cornstarch/water mixture and simmer until soup thickens.
- Add vinegar/sherry/soy/pepper mixture and stir to combine. Bring soup to a simmer.
- Once soup is hot, remove from heat and using a spoon, drizzle egg/cornstarch mixture into the soup using a cirular motion. Allow soup to sit for 1 minute before returning soup back to the heat source.
- Stir soup gently to break up ribbons of egg and ensure egg is cooked through.
- Serve soup topped with sliced scallions or chives.