Hot and sour soup makes me feel comfortable and warm inside. The tangy flavor of the vinegar and the heat from the chili garlic sauce is just the right combo of umami that I crave everytime I want a meal. Every time I make this I feel like I can have a whole gallon. I’m just going to delve right in to my personal recipe.
Ingredients
1/4 cup Maggi soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
8 cups low sodium vegetable broth
2 cups chopped shiitake mushrooms
2 cups chopped wood ear mushrooms
1 block of tofu of your choice (cubed <0.5 in)
1 can of julienned bamboo shoots
2-3 tbsp chili garlic sauce
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp chinese 5 spice
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 green onions (chopped) for garnish
Optional
2-3 eggs
So I usually pour 7.5 cups of broth into a large pot with the vinegar, chili sauce and soy sauce right away on the stove at medium-high heat to try and bring to a boil. The other half cup of broth I mix with the corn starch and set aside.
While I chop and prep my mushrooms, I add them consecutively as the broth boils. Stir for about 2-4 mins and add the tofu and drained bamboo shoots. Let it heat up for another 5 minutes or so.
Add the ground ginger, white pepper and chinese 5 spice to taste.
Optional-turn heat to high, crack the eggs into the boiling broth and stir for 2-4 minutes.
Turn the heat down to low-medium then pour the mixture of cornstarch and broth in slowly and stir for another few minutes until incorporated.
Garnish with chopped green onions and there you have your delicious hot and sour soup.