Hot and Sour Soup

Glycine max
part of: Soybean

Hot and sour soup is a classic of Chinese cuisine, balancing white pepper heat against dark vinegar tang in a silky, egg-ribboned broth. The standard version includes shredded tofu, wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and sometimes pork or chicken, thickened to a satisfying consistency with cornflour.

It is a staple of Chinese restaurant menus in Australia and makes an excellent starter or light meal, particularly in cooler weather. The soup is meant to be assertively flavoured — sour enough to make you sit up, peppery enough to warm you through.

Homemade versions are straightforward once you have the right vinegar (Chinkiang black vinegar is traditional) and allow you to adjust the sour-to-hot ratio. It comes together quickly and is best eaten immediately, as the silky texture dulls on standing.

Produced
photograph to come — from twenty years of markets, farms and kitchens

Safety

  • › Toxicity: Contains trypsin inhibitors. Requires preparation.

How it's made

Hot and sour soup is prepared by simmering a chicken or pork stock and adding shredded tofu, wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and sometimes meat. The broth is seasoned heavily with dark rice vinegar and white pepper, then thickened with a cornflour slurry. Beaten egg is drizzled in at the end to form delicate ribbons. The soup is served immediately.

Nutrition (per 100g)

Energy 39kcal
Protein 2.6g
Carbs 3.8g
Fat 1.2g
Fibre 0.5g Sugar 0.4g
Mass Distribution

1 cup is about 233 g — roughly 90 kcal of this.

What it costs the planet (per kilo)

Carbon ≈0.5kg
Freshwater ≈130L
Land ≈0.4m²

≈ Estimated from its category — typical for vegetables, not measured for this item yet. Where this comes from →

Where it comes from

Made from
Tofu

In the kitchen

Used as

protein centerpiece

Classic dishes
  • edamame
  • soy milk
  • tofu
  • tofu skin
  • soy sauce
  • fermented bean paste
  • natto
  • tempeh
  • miso
  • kinako
  • doenjang
  • cheonggukjang
  • ganjang
  • textured vegetable protein
  • hummus

Keeping one at home? Track yours in your cubud →

Where this data comes from

Nutrition data from

USDA

How it was calculated

SR Legacy

Full credits, licences, and methods: the sources page →

Where to next

made fromTofu goes well withtofu goes well withegg goes well withbamboo shoot goes well withwood ear mushroom goes well withvinegar goes well withwhite pepper shares a sourceMeat Alternatives shares a sourceSoy & Peanut Oils shares a sourceSoy Milk & Dairy Alternatives shares a sourceSoy Sauce & Fermented Pastes shares a sourceSoybeans & Edamame shares a sourceTofu
✎ Spotted something wrong? Suggest a correction

Checking who you are...