Name: Chinese Hot and Sour Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 250 grams pork shoulder (with a generous amount of fat!); 6 to 8 fresh shiitake; ¼ cup dried black fungus (soaked in warm water for at least 20 minutes); 3 cloves garlic; 1 two-inch knob ginger; 2 bird's eye chilies; 1 carrot; 150 grams soft tofu; 2 tablespoons cooking oil; ¼ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder; 8 cups bone broth (divided); 3 tablespoons soy sauce; salt (if your bone broth is under-salted); ¼ teaspoon sugar; 2 tablespoons tapioca starch (or corn starch (use more for a thicker soup)); 2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar; sliced scallions (to garnish)

Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

Connie Veneracion

Chilies, ginger and Chinese black vinegar are the essential ingredients to give hot and sour soup its distinctive flavor.

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Soup

Cuisine Chinese

Servings people

Ingredients

250 grams pork shoulder with a generous amount of fat!
6 to 8 fresh shiitake
¼ cup dried black fungus soaked in warm water for at least 20 minutes
3 cloves garlic
1 two-inch knob ginger
2 bird’s eye chilies
1 carrot
150 grams soft tofu
2 tablespoons cooking oil
¼ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
8 cups bone broth divided
3 tablespoons soy sauce
salt if your bone broth is under-salted
¼ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons tapioca starch or corn starch (use more for a thicker soup)
2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar
sliced scallions to garnish

Instructions

Cut the pork into thin slices; cut each slice into slivers about ¼ inch wide.
Pull off and discard the stems of the shiitake mushrooms. Thinly slice the caps.
Thinly slice the black fungus.
Peel and mince the garlic.
Peel and grate the ginger.
Chop the chili.
Peel and julienne the carrot (note that bamboo shoot is the traditional vegetable for hot and sour soup, but I like carrot better).
Cut the soft tofu into half-inch cubes.
Heat the cooking oil in a pot.
Saute the ginger, garlic and chili with the five-spice powder in the hot oil until lightly browned.
Add the pork to the pot and cook until lightly browned.
Add the shiitake to the pork.
Pour in seven cups bone broth and the soy sauce. Stir in the sugar. Bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.
Disperse the corn starch in the remaining broth and pour into the pot. Stir until the broth is thick and clear.
Add the tofu cubes, black fungus and julienned carrot to the soup. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes
Turn off the heat and stir in the black vinegar. Taste. Add more salt if necessary (adding more soy sauce will make the soup too dark).
Garnish the hot and sour soup with scallions and serve at once.

Notes

Updated from a recipe originally published in February 9, 2018

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Keyword Spicy