Hot and Sour Soup is the PERFECT combo of spicy and savory, made with pork, veggies, tofu, and eggs in a savory broth. Better than takeout!
This soup is the perfect addition to my popular list of take-out Chinese Food Recipes, and you can serve it along with Lo Mein, Chow Mein, and other favorites!
Sabrina’s Hot and Sour Soup Recipe
Hot and Sour Soup is one of my all-time favorite Chinese dishes, made with pork and tofu in a savory broth that’s a little bit hot, a little bit sour, and full of flavor. This is a lot like egg drop soup, but with heartier ingredients like meat and vegetables instead of mostly egg. Serve this with one of my other popular take-out recipes, like Hunan Chicken, or Mongolian Beef.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 ounce wood ear mushrooms
- 1 bunch green onions , cut into thirds
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1/2 yellow onion , quartered
- 12 black peppercorns
- 12 cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 pound pork tenderloin , sliced thinly into 2-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon ginger , grated
- 1 cup bamboo shoots , sliced thinly
- 1 tablespoon red chile paste
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 pound firm tofu , cubed
- 2 large eggs , beaten
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch , mixed into ¼ cup water
- green onions , for garnish
Instructions
- Add the mushrooms to boiling water and let sit in a small bowl for 30 minutes before slicing very thinly and discarding any pieces that are still very tough.
- Add the green onions, garlic cloves, onion, and peppercorns to a bouquet garni bag or to a large dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot with the chicken stock and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes until reduced by ⅓ (If you didn't use a bag, fish out the ingredients) then keep on low heat while you continue cooking.
- In a large skillet add the oil on medium-high heat and cook the pork tenderloin, then remove from the pan and add in the ginger, bamboo shoots, chile paste, soy sauce, rice vinegar, white pepper, and sugar. Stir well to combine and bring to a boil before moving the mixture to the dutch oven with the chicken stock.
- Stir well to combine and bring to a boil before moving the mixture to the dutch oven with the chicken stock.
- Add the mushrooms to the pot along with the tofu and the cornstarch/water mix. Bring the heat back up to medium-low for 10 minutes.
- Stir the soup in a clockwise direction at a low speed and slowly pour in the eggs while whisking slowly to cook the egg while it also spreads out during cooking (be careful not to let it cook in a giant puddle or in too thin of a stream).
- Garnish with green onions if desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Chef’s Notes
I like to enhance the flavor with a few dashes of sesame oil. You can add the sesame oil to each bowl when serving, or to the whole pot. Use sparingly, because it’s really strong. I also always make sure to buy firm or extra firm tofu, or the tofu cubes may fall apart in the broth and it can really change the texture of the overall soup.
Table of Contents
About this Recipe
This recipe takes a total time of a little over an hour to cook, so be ready. It has quite a few steps but it is so rewarding to make it at home yourself. The flavors are also just so much better, you can customize your ingredients, and the amazing smell will fill your home getting everyone so excited to try it! I also recommend having your veggies prepped and cut up before starting the recipe, to save yourself time.
How to Store
- Serve: Don’t leave your soup out at room temperature for longer than 2 hours before refrigerating.
- Store: You can store your Hot and Sour Soup in the refrigerator for 2-3 days and enjoy it as leftovers. Reheat soup in a large saucepan over medium heat until warmed through.
- Freeze: This soup freezes well. Reheat it within a few weeks to retain freshness.
Cooking Tips and Tricks
- Choosing Soy Sauce: I like to use low sodium soy sauce to lighten up this recipe a little bit.
- Adding the Eggs: Be careful when adding your eggs, if you drop them in too quickly you won’t get the ribbon-like strings that are a signature for this dish.
Variations
- Protein: Hot and sour soup is usually made with pork and tofu, but you can use chicken, shrimp, or beef if that’s what you have. Or leave the meat out entirely and just use tofu for a vegetarian hot and sour soup.
- Mushrooms: You can substitute the wood ear mushrooms for shiitake mushrooms. A lot of sweet and sour soup recipes will call for shiitake mushrooms because they add a deeper flavor to the broth, but you can add even more complexity by using a combination of both.
- Spices: Add extra spices cayenne pepper to make this hot and sour soup even hotter.
- Veggies: This hot and sour soup recipe traditionally uses mushrooms, bamboo, and onions, but you can add other veggies that you have on hand like carrots, green onions, bok choy, cabbage, or leftover stir-fried veggies like broccoli.
- Vegetable Stock: This sweet and sour soup recipe uses chicken stock, but you can use vegetable stock if that’s what you have, or if you’re making this vegetarian.
- Noodles: It’s not traditional but you can add lo mein noodles or rice noodles to this dish if you want to or have them leftover from another dish.
Related Recipes
More Delicious Asian Soups
The following photos were used in previous versions of this post:
I have made this recipe 1/2 dozen times. It gets better each time. I added 1/2 tsp pepper flakes for a little kick. But this is really good soup. Thank you for the recipe
You’re welcome Keith, so glad it’s in your kitchen rotation. You can never go wrong with extra spicy too!
This recipe sounds wonderful. Can it be canned as well as frozen? I would like to can the extra into single serving portions such as 8 ounce jars–for later.
What a great idea. Let us know how your canned soup turns out!
Made this for dinner last night & my husband and I were thoroughly impressed! My 99 year old father had a bowlful.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Love Asian Food ??
Made this for dinner last night and it was a little more time consuming that I thought but it was fantastic! Great recipe. I think cutting everything up the day before or at least in advance would have made the process go quicker. The first time I make any recipe I stick as close to the ingredients and directions as possible. In this case, I absolutely love mushrooms, so I used the dried mushrooms listed in the ingredients and then I also added 6 crimini mushrooms sliced.
This is a keeper recipe and I’m so glad I found your website and I’m looking forward to trying some of your other recipes.
God bless you for sharing your expertise with us.
aww, thanks for your kind words. Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the 5 star rating!
This was so delicious! Better than take out. I used shiitake mushrooms. My new favorite soup!
I am diabetic and cannot add/use/have sugar. Can this be made with a sugar substitute like Swerve?
Karen, I substitute Allulose for sugar when I cook. It should work okay in soup. I add it to my tomato sauce to cut the acidity. It’s a 1:1 ratio replacement – i.e. 1 tsp sugar; 1 tsp allulose. I hope this helps you I you.
I love hot and sour soup but rarely have the ingredients on hand or the time to make the “authentic” version. I’ve tried in the past but didn’t find a recipe that was very good, especially without a lot of work. I was looking for an easy base recipe that I could use and be able to substitute items for the things my husband doesn’t like. This was IT! I really wanted to try it even though I didn’t have even the basic ingredients on hand, like mushrooms or tofu, I made the “base” with the broth, vinegar, soy, sriracha, cornstarch, and eggs. I used a jarred ginger and garlic paste, so I saved time chopping and grating. It was great – took just a few minutes to put it together and it tasted pretty good, so I winged it from there. I added a little chili oil because I like it hot, and as crazy as it sounds, I added leftover pork fried rice I had. The rice included bean sprouts and green onion, so although the soup included none of the traditional add-ins, it tasted so good. Now I know that I can make a more authentic version of hot and sour soup without searching for expensive ingredients that I may have trouble finding. And I can use whatever ingredients I have on hand and still have a soup that tastes better than some take-out. I will make this often! THANKS for posting! No more recipe searching for me!!!
I just made this last night as I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand. Absolutely delicious! Thank you so much Sabrina, this recipe is a definite winner!
This recipe sounds so good, just like my favorite restaurants soup. I’m just not sure I can find woodear mushrooms around here. Even if I can’t I’m still going to make this soup. LOL
Five stars! Great recipe. If it would help others I used sliced button mushrooms from my produce department and added bok choy. I’m single so I knew that it would last me for a while so I did not add the eggs to thicken it. I’m not sorry. This is a great hot and sour soup and I can’t wait for leftovers.
Most wonderful hot and sour soup. Thank you
I made this last night. I used all the recommended ingredients added shrimp and chicken. It was disgusting. I have so much soup that I will throw out. I couldn’t eat one bowl.
Tammy, I’m so sorry this didn’t work too well. Maybe there is another recipe you would like better.
Excellent recipe and easy to follow. I used Shitakes because my market doesn’t carry Woodears but I’ve been taste testing throughout the process and it’s delicious. I’m so glad it freezes too but it may be eaten before it makes it to the freezer. Thank you so much for the recipe Sabrina! I look forward to trying your other recipes.
Delicious! I love hot and sour soup and this recipe is so good. Better than take out!
Thanks for the 5 stars, Debbie.
Do you have to add tofu? What exactly does the tofu do for the recipe?
You can leave it out if you like. It just offers a good source of protein to the soup. You can add a different type of protein that’s more to your liking instead. I hope you enjoy it!
It was a lot to get ready and special buys … but well worth the trouble …I made mine to spicy for me but my bunch will love it ;)made crispy noodles to top it off … thank you for your recipe:)
You’re welcome, Judi.
I have a mushroom allergy, what would make a good substitution without ruining the flavor or consistency of this soup?
I am so sorry, I am just seeing this tonight. I am sure the recipe has long been cooked/or not but I still want to try to help.
I haven’t recipe tested this, but you might want to try zucchini or eggplant.
oH wOW i SAW THIS RECEPIE AND i JUST KNEW i HAD TO MAKE IT!!!
It was very close to the real thing, I just added a bit more heat, and it turned out great!!!
Thanks for the 5 stars, Jamie. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I liked this soup although i added 1/2 c cider vinegar. It was too spicy! Despite not having all the ingredients and substituted i thought it turned out great. For the egg i whisked the egg and put it in a bag.and cut a small hole in the corner. Worked perfectly!
I’m glad you felt comfortable playing around with it depending on what you had on hand.
I was apprehensive , but gave this recipe a whirl! I ended up increasing the vinegar and the heat level, plus I added some garlic powder to the finished product. I was astounded! I think it was just as good as any hot and sour soup I’ve had eating out. Thanks so much for the gift of this recipe!
I’m glad you decided to give it a try, Kathy.
Will this freeze?
Yes 🙂
I very seldom ever rate or comment on recipes. But THIS! I have been looking for this hot and sour soup recipe for years! It tastes so much like the yummy soup we would get at our local Chinese restaurant that closed. I’m going to implement some of the suggestions to give it more thickness and deepen the complexity of flavors but it is wonderful as is! Thank you!!
Julie, thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed it!
In your recipe it calls for 1 ounce mushroom, that’s like one mushroom , is that correct?
1 ounce of woodear mushrooms is correct. Enjoy!
How big are woodear mushrooms if you only use one, never heard of them?
You’ll want to use 1 ounce of woodear mushrooms for this recipe. You can find them jarred at the store.
I am so excited to make this soup. Was wondering if I could add shrimp as a protein? Maybe along with the pork?
Yes, just add the shrimp in towards the last couple minutes of cooking. Pork and shrimp are a delicious combination.
Great recipe. After tinkering, I like to do roughly 60-40 chicken and beef stock. To really thicken it like restaurant soup I bloom 4 tsp (2 pack) of gelatin in 1/2 cup of cold water and mix it in at the end. I didn’t have great results with corn starch but the gelatin gives it that restaurant thickness.
I just made it with the shitaki mushrooms because I could not find the Woodward which I prefer. I also used Cheyenne pepper instead of white pepper cause my family can’t handle the heat. I thought this was an amazing flavor and I enjoyed it with a little bit of rice with it.
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it! Thanks for the 5 stars.
Oh my goodness!! Your hot and sour soup was absolutely delicious!! I’v been trying to find a recipe like this one for years to duplicate from our favorite chinese restaurant who moved and this one was it!!! I can’t believe how good it was!! You are a wonderful chef……THANK YOU!! It’s a KEEPER FOR SURE!! CW
So glad you liked it! You are so welcome, thanks for the review!
I’m confused, you say 1/2 pound pork tenderloin sliced thinly into 2” pieces. 2” wouldn’t be thin, right?
These are going to be thin strips that are 2″ long. Sorry for any confusion!
Ingredients call for 8 cloves of garlic, but the directions never call for them to be added to the soup. At what point do you add the garlic?
You’ll want to add them into step 2. Enjoy!
I don’t see instructions for adding the garlic. When is the garlic added??
You’ll want to add them in step 2 with the green onions, onion and peppercorns. Enjoy!
This is one of our favorite soups! Makes takeout at home so much easier.
Definitely!
Can I use chicken instead of pork?Some family members cannot eat it.
Yes 🙂
Easy soup recipe, it’s one of our new favorites!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is my favorite soup when we visit Chinese restaurants. I never knew it was so easy to make at home! You are my new BFF!
Haha, love it!
Love the soups they give at Chinese restaurants! This one is delicious, filling, & the perfect combination!
Glad you enjoyed it!
The last step of adding egg to the soup seems unnecessary to me. I had a wonderful broth going, and it looked just like Chinese restaurant style soup, then I added the egg and it all turned to an unattractive goop
Sorry to hear that! You can always leave it out next time. Pouring the eggs in slowly while also keeping the stirring at a good pace can be tricky to get the hang of.
Omg way to good, used your recipe and added more ingredients!! I love it HOT???
I love making my favorite restaurant dishes at home! thanks for the recipe
So perfect for when you don’t want to go out.
You say “sweet and sour” a lot throughout this article where I think you meant hot and sour. It doesn’t take away from how wonderful this soup is though 🙂
Thanks for catching that!