Chinese hot and sour soup is packed with flavor and easy to make at home, who doesn’t like it? I for one, drink the hot and sour over chicken noodle soup even when I am having a cold. 

My cousin who is now five-months pregnant has just became the biggest fan of the hot and sour soup in our family. Before pregnancy, she couldn’t even smell spicy food. Now, she craves spicy, slaty and sour foods all the time. Chinese hot and sour soup has became her new favorite food! 

I am excited to share how I like to cook the hot and sour soup with simple ingredients at home. It tastes as good as the take-out.

Hot and sour soup can be meat-free or with meat. I typically make the soup with pork tenderloin and chicken/pork broth for an extra layer of umami flavor.

To start, heat a bit of oil in the wok and stir fry the pork with ginger. Once the pork is no longer pink, add the soy sauce, cooking wine, Chinese vinegar, salt and chili paste into the pot and cook until the sauces begin to simmer.

It should smell really fragrant.

Next, pour the chicken stock in the pot and bring it to a boil. Once the soup starts to boil, add the tofu and mushrooms and let everything simmer for 15 minutes.

Finally, thickening the soup with a cornstarch slurry and cooking the egg ribbons.

Garnish with chopped green onion, sprinkle some white pepper on top and drizzle the soup with a few drops of sesame oil, the homemade hot and sour soup is ready to serve. If you would like an extra spicy kick, slice a Thai red chili pepper and add it to the soup.

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