Hot and sour soup with tofu and mushrooms
40 min · 19 g protein · 242 cals / serving
The takeout soup, made at home and better: a silky, peppery broth sharp with vinegar and warm with white pepper, packed with strips of tofu, shiitake and wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots and carrot, and finished with sesame oil and a shower of scallions.
Ingredients
- 5 dried shiitake dried shiitake mushrooms
- a small handful dried wood ear wood ear mushrooms, or more shiitake
- 1 1/4 cups water, hot, for soaking
- 5 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 5 oz crimini mushroom, thinly sliced
- 1 can (8 oz), drained bamboo shoots, cut into matchsticks
- 1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
- 1 1/2 blocks (21 oz) firm tofu, cut into thin strips
- 3 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar, or Chinese black vinegar
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp granulated sugar, beet or organic sugar (vegan)
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Slurry
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
To serve
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 4 scallions green onions, thinly sliced
- a few sprigs fresh cilantro
Steps
- Soak the dried shiitake and wood ear in the hot water for 20 minutes, until soft. Lift them out, squeeze them over the bowl, and slice them thinly (discard the shiitake stems). Keep the soaking water.
- Pour the broth and the soaking water (leave any grit in the bottom of the bowl) into a large pot with the ginger and garlic and bring to a boil. Add all the mushrooms, the bamboo shoots and carrot and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Slide in the tofu and soy sauce and simmer 2 minutes more, stirring gently so the tofu stays in strips.
- Stir in the rice vinegar, balsamic, white pepper, sugar and pepper flakes. Taste: it should be boldly sour and peppery, so add more vinegar or pepper until it is.
- Stir the cornstarch and cold water together, pour it in while stirring, and simmer 1–2 minutes until the soup turns glossy and lightly thickened.
- Ladle into bowls and finish with a few drops of sesame oil, the scallions and coriander.
Good to know
Where's the egg?
This version is vegan. If you eat eggs, beat 2 and drizzle them in a thin stream at the end of step 5, stirring once, for the classic silky ribbons.
Black vinegar?
Chinese black (Chinkiang) vinegar gives the deepest, maltiest sourness; use 1/4 cup plus 2 tsp of it in place of the rice and balsamic vinegars if you have it.
Does it keep?
Up to 4 days in the fridge. It thins a little as it sits; bring it back with a splash more slurry, and add a fresh splash of vinegar, which fades on reheating.
Can't fill you up alone — pair it with protein.
Per
- Calories
- 36
- Protein
- (30%)
- 3 g
- Fat
- (30%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (40%)
- 4 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 209 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 969 kcal goes into the pot and 2878 g of ingredients comes out as about 2700 g of food: 36 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.