This Hot and Sour Mushroom Soup has lots of flavour and you can customize the 'kick'! Nothing bland about this soup!
I love this soup in cooler weather. It is beefy-although there is no meat in it - and spicy and filling. Despite all that it is fairly low in calories.
You can make this vegetarian by using vegetable or mushroom broth instead of beef broth. It will also be gluten free if you use gluten free tamari.
The rice vinegar in the soup already gives it a bit of bright heat. You can add sriracha or hot sauce to suit your taste. I find 1 teaspoon of Franks hot sauce works for our family but we are on the lower end of the heat tolerance scale.
I have had Hot and Sour soups in restaurants that burned your lips! Not my cup-of-soup so to speak but you have that option!
I like to mince the mushrooms and onions because I like to sip this out of cup. If you plan to serve it in bowls you could use sliced mushrooms if you like.
The cornstarch and egg give it a bit of body and texture. Perfect for a cold winter day!
Wine Pairing
This would work well as a first course serve with an aged wine that has forest floor, mushroom descriptors like an aged Pinot Noir. The salt and acid from the tamari and vinegar will help mitigate all that umami from the mushrooms, which can make a wine taste bitter and astringent. I would lean toward a low tannin, fruity red or an unoaked white.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 bunch green onions white and light green parts divided
- 1 lb mixed mushrooms I use Cremini chopped fine
- 1 inch fresh ginger grated
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1-2 tsps sriracha sauce or Franks' Hot Sauce to taste
- ¼ cup tamari or soy sauce
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 6 cups beef broth or vegetable broth for vegetarian
- 2 Tbsps cornstarch
- 1 large egg whisked well
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a Dutch oven large enough to hold the final soup. Saute the onions and white parts of the green onions about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes until liquid starts to release.
- Add the ginger, garlic and hot sauce. Cook 1 minute.
- Add the vinegar and tamari and stir in. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes to mix flavours. Meanwhile shake the cornstarch and ⅓ cup of water in a small jar til well mixed and a small slurry is formed. Add slurry to the pot and simmer another 10 minutes til thickened, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and stir in the whisked egg. It will form stringy bits. Garnish with green onion bits and serve.
Kim
Yum, Carolyn! Made this for Glen and Blair for lunch today. Had a few leftover mushrooms from something else... and your post was the nudge I needed. Only substitution was on the heat; I like white pepper for my heat in a hot-and-sour soup, so used a few pinches instead of a hot sauce.
thewineloverskitchen
Glad you liked it! It is one of my favourites too!