Chinese Hot and Sour Soup in Under 30 Minutes

Hot and sour soup is a staple of Chinese restaurants and a personal favourite, this vegetarian version runs with tofu and Shiitake mushrooms.

Classic Spicy Sour Egg Drop Soup.

There are a few dishes that seem to appear on all Chinese restaurant and takeaway menus the world over.

I have more than a few of them here on my site, stuff like kung pao chicken and sweet and sour pork are perennial favourites here.

This hot and sour soup recipe is yet another of those recipes that appear on every menu.

It is essentially an egg drop soup, just like my Chinese chicken and sweetcorn soup.

It takes less than 30 minutes to cook, it is vegetarian and it tastes fantastic!

Preparing the Tofu.

For many people, me included, tofu is a mysterious ingredient.

I don’t use it often, in fact, this recipe and my Vietnamese fried tofu recipe are the only two that I regularly use it for.

I buy firm silken tofu and remove it from the packet the night before I use it and then press it.

To do this wrap it in a clean kitchen towel and then sandwich between two trays.

Place in the fridge then add some weight to the top, tinned foods are great for this!

This removes any excess liquid from the packing process.

The Preparation.

It does not matter whether you are cooking this version of hot and sour soup or my hot and sour prawn soup the secret is in the preparation.

In fact, this is so often the case with a lot of wok cooked dishes.

This is because the process often reads, add X for 1 minute, add Y for 30 seconds.

It is clear to see that you do not have time to hunt for ingredients or prepare them.

As a result, you should invest in some prep bowls.

They are cheap, then it is nice and easy to get everything ready. Then all you need to do throw things into the pan in order.