Hot And Sour Chicken Soup Recipe

Hot and Sour Chicken Soup

When I was young, Every time we go to restaurants with family the only soup which I order is spicy hot & sour soup. And also fish fingers and chicken wings will be my Appetizer of choice. The combo is unbeatable. Making this soup at home reminds me of my childhood days. When I made this soup for the first time, I served it with crispy chicken croquettes and everyone enjoyed it.

About Hot and Sour Chicken Soup

Perfect amount of spiciness with sour taste makes this soup so popular. This soup is for all my spicy food lovers. Hot and sour soup is one of the popular soup in Sichuan cuisine. It is also equally popular in Southeast Asia, India & Pakistan. This soup is easily adaptable and modified according to each region. Vegetables and chicken cooked in a hot and sour broth which is thickened with cornstarch slurry and beaten egg. Traditionally this soup is made with variety of mushrooms like wood ear mushrooms or cloud ear fungus. But button mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms is the most common variety used in the soup. Hot and sour soup taste spicy while my chicken clear soup is more on the milder side.

Watch Chicken Soup Video

The soup starts with a soup broth. The broth or stock forms the base of the soup. I like to add all my flavourings and sauces in the broth and create a base which is hot and sour. Once the broth is ready you can start making the soup. In a stock pot or soup pot, flavourings like ginger, garlic and spring onions is sauted first. Mixed vegetables is added and then the broth. I add beaten egg and chicken in this soup. But if you wish you could make it entirely vegetarian by skipping the chicken and egg. Instead use extra tofu and mushrooms.

More Popular Soups to Try,

Cream of Chicken Soup Meatball Soup Chicken Noodles Soup Spicy Chicken Soup

Hot and Sour Broth (Stock) Ingredients

Stock of Choice - I used chicken stock, I mixed 2 tbsp of chicken bouillon with 1 litre of water to make my instant stock. Optionally you can make my homemade chicken stock or easy version of chicken broth which I made in my chicken clear soup recipe. If you are making vegetarian or vegan soup, then use vegetable stock. Soy Sauce - this adds colour to the soup and adds the umami note. Vinegar - the sour taste for the soup comes from vinegar. You can use rice vinegar which is more traditional or white vinegar which is more commonly used. Chilli Garlic Paste - I prefer using chilli garlic paste instead of chilli sauce. choose any good brand of chilli paste sambal oelek or homemade chilli garlic paste. Seasonings - as basic as salt, black pepper & sugar!

Hot and Sour Chicken Soup Ingredients

Aromatics - basic aromatics ginger, garlic, spring onions form the base for all Chinese or Sichuan Cuisine. Vegetables - make sure your vegetables are chopped pretty fine. carrots, cabbage, bell peppers, mushrooms is what I used. You can add bamboo shoots, baby corn. Protein of Choice - cooked shredded chicken, tofu is popular choice in this soup. Toasted Sesame Oil - adds toasty and nutty flavour to the soup. If you don’t have sesame oil, you can opt for regular cooking oil. Eggs - this thickens the soup and adds velvety texture to the soup. Cornstarch - for silky glossy restaurant style soup, a simple cornstarch slurry is added.

Hot and Sour Chicken Soup in 3 Easy Steps

Making Broth - Make sure you get the hot and sour taste balance perfectly by tasting and adjusting the broth. Base of Soup - use the Holy Trinity of Spring Onion, Garlic & Ginger which forms the base aromatics. Finishing Soup - thicken the soup with egg and cornstarch slurry to create restaurant style soup.

How to Make Hot and Sour Chicken Soup (Stepwise Pictures)

Making Hot and Sour Soup Stock

Take chicken stock in a bowl. I used chicken stock powder (chicken bouillon) mixed with some water. Add in soy sauce into the chicken stock. 2)Now for the spicy and sour part. Add in chilli garlic sauce and vinegar to taste. 3)Add in sugar to balance the taste. Add in salt and black pepper and mix this well. 4)Hot and sour stock is ready. Taste and adjust the chilli sauce, vinegar and salt level in the stock.

Making Hot and Sour Soup

5)Heat oil in a stock pot. If you have sesame oil, add toasted sesame oil for maximum flavour. 6)Add in chopped spring onion white part alone, chopped garlic and ginger. Saute for 1 minute. 7)Add in finely carrot, cabbage, capsicum and mushrooms. 8)Saute for couple of minutes. 9)Pour in hot and sour stock. Mix well. Bring this to a full boil. 10)Add in cooked shredded chicken, chopped tofu. Let the chicken and tofu heat through.

Finishing Hot and Sour Chicken Soup

For thickening the soup, make cornstarch slurry. Take cornstarch in a mixing bowl, add in water and mix till lump free. Pour this cornstarch mix into the soup and mix well. 12)Bring this soup to a full boil. Now the soup is thickened and glossy.
Take egg in a bowl, mix well till creamy. Now reduce the flame, drizzle in the egg slowly and gently mix. 14)Once egg is mixed into the soup mix it very gently. Now egg is cooked and formed into ribbons. 15)Add in finely chopped spring onions greens. Add extra sesame oil to finish the soup. 16)Soup is ready to serve.
Serve hot.

Expert Tips

I used cooked chicken breast which I chopped into small pieces. You can use a rotisserie chicken as well. Any leftover chicken meat can be used. You can use any vegetables as you prefer. Add more or less as you like. Baby corn, bamboo shoots can be used. This soup taste has to be tangy and spicy, so taste the broth and adjust accordingly. To get restaurant style taste, add MSG | ajinomoto for taste. I used 2 beaten eggs in the soup which resulted in thick soup. If you want slightly thinner consistency, add 1 beaten egg. Toasted sesame oil enhances the flavour, if you don’t have that use regular oil.

Serving

Chicken hot and sour soup can be served with wontons, spring rolls or momos for lighter rainy day lunch or dinner. You can serve it with main dishes to make it into a substantial satisfying meal.

Sesame Chicken Noodles Chicken noodles Veg, Egg or Chicken fried rice Nasi Goreng Veg Noodles