Hot and Sour Soup ( Indo – Chinese )

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Most restaurants serve Hot and Sour soup which is unpalatable. I’m not saying it because I’m a hot and sour soup lover and I could not find a single restaurant serving a good bowl of this soup in our own city. When you make huge batches of this soup ( or any soup ), the finer details about the soup are lost somewhere between cooking and serving.

I have been trying to learn the cooking technique of Hot and Sour soup, Indo Chinese style, in my own kitchen for last four years. It is rich and thick, loaded with veggies and a few spices giving it an intense flavor. There are 4 main steps in making of this heavenly soup :

Making a broth / stock – Use the best available tomatoes.
Populating the stock with veggies – again fresh veggies will make all the difference.
Thickening – There are many types of corn starches available. I use the regular one from grocery store.
Seasoning – with vinegar and chilli sauce , should be the last step and done just before serving.

Serves: 8

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indo – Chinese

Ingredients

3 medium tomatoes

9 cups water

2 tablespoon canola oil/ or any vegetable oil

1 medium tomato, finely chopped

2 cups chopped cabbage

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup finely diced green beans

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt ( adjust as per taste )

1 teaspoon black pepper powder

4 tablespoons cornstarch

¾ cup water

5 tablespoons vinegar

1 teaspoon Chilli sauce ( optional )

Directions

Pressure cook three medium tomatoes in nine cups of water for one whistle.

Meanwhile chop all the required veggies and saute them in oil ( 3 – 4 minutes) in a medium pan.

After the pressure cooker has released all the steam, mash the cooked tomatoes completely with a potato masher. Don’t filter. Your veggie stock is ready. Now add the sauteed veggies to the stock. Add salt, pepper and sugar. Mix cornstarch in water. Mix it well to remove any knots of starch in water. Add this to the stock mix. Stir gently and give it one boil. The soup should start to thicken by now.

In the end, add vinegar and chili sauce ( if using). Give it a nice mix.

Serve hot.

Garnish with green onions if you like

Cooking Suggestions

If you don’t want to chop/ dice veggies, you can use ready to use coleslaw. So, if you are not using cabbage, carrots and beans as per the above ingredient list, use 4 cups of coleslaw instead. I have tried this with good results.

Leave me a comment if you have any query.

Hot and Sour Soup ( Indo – Chinese )

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