I remember years ago when my Mum used to make Hot and Sour soup Indian style, with seasonal medley of uniformly cut carrots, green beans, cauliflower, cabbage and tinned baby corn, with a garnish of spring onions I always thought it was the best thing ever, truth is the only other version I had ever had was at Indochine restaurants in Bombay, and I swear Mum’s copycat version transported you to restaurants across oceans, even without the hard to find mushrooms.  

Then about 19 years ago the first halal Indochine restaurant opened up here in the DMV, and from day one I was a weekly customer, it was the first time I had ever had soup with tofu and mushrooms I hadn’t heard of before. 

However, the thing about me is that after a while, I think I can make the same at home, if not better, and then eventually we end up never going to that restaurant, and when my kids started to ask for it every week, of course I had to replicate it without the MSG and make it clean. 

The Hakka style Hot and Sour Soup is the most popular soup in any Chinese restaurant and this one is really the penicillin to any sniffles at my home.  It tastes savory, tangy, a little spicy and is loaded with strips of tofu, bamboo, three types of mushrooms like dried shiitake and wood ears which are rehydrated and the liquid used as part of the glossy broth as well as white button mushrooms, dried lily flowers, julienned carrots, tri-colored bell peppers and complete with the optional wispy egg drop flowers. 

The spicy and sour notes come from the chilies in white vinegar and the addition of chili oil. It’s the perfect soup for cold weather or any weather!  

Use tofu or chicken as a protein, or make this vegan by leaving out the egg and chicken.  Leave out the Soy for a gluten-free version. 

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. oil
• 2 tsp. crushed garlic
• 2 tsp. grated ginger
• 1 green chili cut into discs

Broth

• 8 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth ( or use water with a cube of vegetable/chicken bouillon)
• 3 tbsp. Dark Soy Sauce
• 1.5 tbsp. white vinegar
• 1 tbsp. Chili oil or chili garlic sauce
• 1 cube of Chicken or veggie (Maggi or Knorr) if veggie then use 2 cubes

Vegetables:

• 1 medium onion sliced
• 1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms  (slice the shiitake and use water for broth )
• 5 pieces dry wood ear mushroom (rehydrated and thinly sliced
• 1 cup baby Bella or white mushrooms sliced
• 10 pieces of dried lily flower (rehydrated)
• ½ cup carrot julienned
• 1 cup finely shredded cabbage
• 1 green bell pepper- cubed
• 1 red bell pepper- cubed
• 1 can bamboo shoot strips, drained – use as much as you like (I used about 1 cup and a bit more of the Aroy-D brand.)
• 2 large eggs, whisked (optional I did not use)
• salt and black pepper
• 2 spring onions- white for the soup and green for garnish

Proteins:

• 8 ounces firm tofu -1/2-inch cubes
• 1- 1 1/2 cups cubed chicken breast (about ½ lb)

Slurry

• 1/4 cup cornstarch mixed with 1/3 cup cold water or you can use arrowroot powder

Chili Vinegar

• 10 Thai hot green chilies thinly sliced
• 1 cup white vinegar
  

Watch a quick video here!

Method:

1. Bring vinegar to a boil just below boiling point in the microwave or on the stovetop. Pour over sliced chilies and store in a glass container.
   
   
2. In separate bowls, soak the shiitake mushrooms, wood ears, and dried lily flowers in 1 cup of boiling water each for 1 hour, until hydrated.  
   
   
3. Heat the oil in a pot on medium high heat then add then add the ginger and garlic and sauté for 2 mins.
   
   
4. Add chicken if using as a protein and sear the cubes- if not using chicken move to the next step.
   
   
5. Add all the ingredients for the BROTH and let it simmer ( or until the chicken is fully cooked and can be easily pulled apart with a fork- pull out the chicken and shred it then add it back to the broth)
   
   
6. Stir in your tofu and bamboo strips and adjust seasoning.
   
   
7. With the soup on a medium heat whisk in the cornstarch slurry, stir and turn the heat to a simmer to let it thicken.
   
   
8. * if using eggs – beat the eggs.  When the soup has thickened, stir the soup slowly then drizzle in the beaten eggs around the pot in a circular motion. The swirling motion must be brisk enough so the egg does not bunch up, but creates egg ribbons, or beautiful swirls of egg “flowers”
   
   
9. Once soup thickens, turn off heat and adjust seasoning to add more soy, vinegar, or spice.

Garnish with spring onion greens.

Serve with Soy Sauce, Chili Vinegar and Chili oil and some crispy fried noodles.