Chinese Takeout Hot and Sour Soup Secrets Revealed

Why is takeout hot and sour soup so often a thick, gloopy, bland mess? Well, today I'll show you everything you need to know to make a proper version that is spicy, tangy, velvety, and truly deserving of its title as one of the great soups of the world. Now, if you've ever noticed your homemade hot and sour soup doesn't taste like your favorite restaurant, one of the main culprits is using the wrong kind of broth or stock. Most takeout kitchens are using Asian chicken bouillon powder. Asian chicken broths are typically made with just chicken, ginger, and scallions. Western-style broths are usually based on the traditional French recipe that includes a mirepoix onions, celery, and carrots, and a variety of other spices and aromatics like parsley and peppercorns. So the flavor profile is completely different. The two most popular brands of Asian chicken bouillon I've seen in most takeout kitchens are Knorr and Lee Kum Kee. You'll see several different versions at most grocery stores, but you'll know you're getting the right one if you see Chinese characters on the can or box. I'm not going to give you instructions on how to make the broth because you literally just dump the powder into the water and whisk it in, but it's typically about one teaspoon of bouillon powder in one cup of water. And a side note, this stuff is a great flavor enhancer that a lot of restaurants will put into stir fries or fried rice to give it a little oomph of savoriness. With the broth out of the way, let's address the two biggest mistakes I've So, hot and sour is a very finicky soup to get the flavor exactly how it should be, and there is a proper and optimal order in which the ingredients should be added. The first mistake is adding the egg drop to the simmering liquid before the cornstarch slurry. You always want to thicken the broth before adding the egg because you want the liquid to have some texture, some viscosity. What this does is create a sort of rafting effect to help the eggs suspend on top of the broth and set more easily, which improves their texture. If you add the eggs to a thin, watery broth, a lot of the times they'll sink to the bottom and you won't get those wispy, ribbon-like strands we're looking for. It also helps with the clarity of the broth because the eggs won't break up as easily and cloud the soup. So always thicken the broth with the cornstarch slurry before adding the eggs. The second, and probably the most common mistake I see, is adding the vinegar, white pepper, and sesame oil too early in the cooking process. These three ingredients in particular have a lot of aromatic flavor compounds that lose some of their potency when exposed to heat. You want to think of the vinegar, white pepper, and sesame oil as a final seasoning instead of using them to build flavors during the cooking like you would with most other ingredients. If you add the vinegar too early, you'll lose a lot of the astringent brightness that is such a key flavor component of a well-made hot and sour soup. Another thing a lot of people don't think about is that by adding the vinegar before the cornstarch slurry, you raise the pH of the broth, and the acidity reduces the thickening power of cornstarch because it can't properly gelatinize in an acidic solution. Secondly, the volatile aromatics in white pepper are not water-soluble, so the longer they're in the water while being exposed to heat, the more it's going to wash out the flavor and dilute the spicy notes. By boiling white pepper, you're essentially evaporating the earthy flavors and the piquant spiciness while leaving behind only musty and bitter notes. So, in this soup at least, you always want to add white pepper as a final seasoning at the end once the soup is off the heat. And lastly, toasted sesame oil is mostly used as a finishing oil. It's the same story with white pepper. It has a lot of essential oils and delicate flavors that break down with extended exposure to heat, so you never want to cook with this like you can with regular untoasted sesame oil. Now, you all know I test every recipe for every video dozens of times before I publish it to you. And I'm not going to lie. It's like working at a restaurant. It does get old eating the same thing over and over for weeks on end. And that's where Hungryroot comes in. Hungryroot takes care of all of my meal planning for the week by recommending delicious and nutritional recipes and sending all of the ingredients directly to my doorstep. All you'll do is answer a few questions on their website, and they do all the shopping and meal planning for you. So, it's like having a personal shopper, a prep cook, and a dietitian all in one. They'll send a box full of delicious, high-quality, easy-to-prepare meals right to you. And the best part is that most meals can be made in 15 minutes or less. I've worked with Hungryroot to get a special deal for everyone that likes these videos. So, for a limited time, you can get 40% off your first box, plus get free snacks in every box for life. Now, click the link in the video description or go to Hungryroot.com and use code FARMER. Once again, that's 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for life at Hungryroot.com with the code FARMER. Now, very quickly, before we get into the recipe, I want to give you a quick rundown of the few special ingredients you'll need to make a truly great hot and sour soup. The first is Chinese light soy sauce. And note, light soy sauce doesn't mean low sodium. This is the Chinese version of regular soy sauce. If you've ever noticed the takeout dishes you make at home don't taste like your favorite restaurant, one of the main reasons is that you're likely using the wrong kind of soy sauce. And Kikkoman, which comes from Japan and has a completely different flavor profile from Chinese soy sauce, is the most likely perpetrator. The two most popular brands I've seen used at most restaurants are Lee Kum Kee and Pearl River Bridge. The second is Chinese dark soy sauce. Light soy sauce is used more to add savoriness and seasoning to a dish, whereas dark soy sauce is typically added more for color. So this is what we'll use to get that dark hue to our broth. And you'll see several different varieties, all of which will work fine. But because hot and sour soup has mushrooms, I like mushroom flavored dark soy sauce. This is just like regular dark soy sauce, but it has mushroom flavoring that adds a bit of extra umami. Both Lee Kum Kee and Pearl River Bridge both have mushroom flavored dark soy sauce, either of which will work great. Next up are bamboo shoots. You should be able to find these on the canned aisle at most Asian grocery stores. Bamboo shoots have a very subtle sweet and grassy flavor, but they tend to soak up the seasoning of whatever they're cooked in. So they're really added more for a textural contrast because they're mildly crunchy. And I always prefer to get the strips rather than the sliced, so I have to do less work. The next ingredient is dried day lilies. And this is something you don't often see in many takeout restaurants. It's typically used in more traditional versions, but it does add a unique floral note and it's definitely worth tracking down. It'll come in bags like these, and you'll find it on the dried food aisle at most Asian grocery stores, typically near the mushrooms, which are up next. So the most traditional mushroom used in hot and sour soup is cloud ear or wood ear fungus. And I know the word fungus might be off-putting to Western sensibilities, but it's just a dried mushroom that grows on the side of trees and is used a lot in traditional Chinese recipes. You'll most often find it on the dried food aisle under the name black fungus. And the next thing we'll need is dried shiitake mushrooms. A lot of people have asked me what is the main difference between fresh and dried shiitake mushrooms. And the answer is about six bucks. So the reason why most takeout kitchens use the dried version is because they are significantly cheaper than the fresh. You can store them pretty much indefinitely. And lastly, their flavor is very concentrated. Dried shiitake mushrooms have a lot of glutamates, so they impart a lot of meaty savoriness into the soup. For the sour part of hot and sour, and I know this will come as a shock to many people, but most takeout restaurants are using regular distilled white vinegar, the cheap kind you can find at any grocery store. But if you want the traditional vinegar that more upscale restaurants are using, what you want to grab is Chinese black vinegar. The acidity in this is much more mild than white vinegar, but its flavor is way more complex, and it tastes sweet, rich, malty, and almost fruity. You'll see several different varieties at most Asian grocery stores, from the standard inexpensive stuff to various aged versions. Chinese black vinegar also goes by several different names, and I feel like I'm going to get charged with a hate crime if I mispronounce these, but here goes nothing. Chiang-king or Xinjiang vinegar. Really, any of them will work well, but the only two brands I've personally ever seen in kitchens around me are Genshan and Gold Plum. And a quick aside, if you're not able to track down Chinese black vinegar, you can make a sort of shoemaker's version by mixing equal parts red wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar. It's not exactly the same, but it's pretty close. For the hot part of hot and sour, what you want to grab is ground white pepper, and the heat from white pepper is much different than the heat from black pepper or cayenne. It's not as instantaneous, it doesn't hit your tongue as quickly, and it comes on much more slowly. I would describe the heat from white pepper exactly how I would describe my girlfriend's ex-boyfriend. Total creeper. And finally, for the tofu, and this is a source of contention amongst hot and sour aficionados, but with more traditional versions, you'll often find them using softer varieties like silken tofu. I think this is because its custardy texture provides a nice contrast with the more ingredients like wood ear mushrooms and bamboo shoots. However, with takeout kitchens, they typically use a standard firm tofu. I chalked this up to them making large vats of the soup, and a firmer tofu simply holds its shape better over time. So for this recipe, we'll be using a firm or hard tofu. Now, to make the soup, we'll start by sectioning and marinating the protein. And the only two meats I've ever seen in hot and sour soup are pork loin and chicken breast. But one of the biggest problems with pork loin is you usually have to buy a gigantic piece like this one. So what I prefer to do is get these little center cut pork chops, because they're also from the pork loin and you can buy a much smaller amount. To section them, all you'll do is trim the fat off and cut them in half like this. Then take each half and slice them into about one quarter inch slivers. And this will give you that matchstick cut you'll often find in stir fries and a lot of takeout soups. For chicken breast, what you want to look for is this seam running along the top of the breast. You should see the grain of the meat running along both sides of this seam. Now do your best to make about one quarter inch cuts across the grain. By shortening the grain, we'll ensure we get the most tender meat possible. Then take each of these slices and stack them onto one another and cut them into about one quarter inch slivers. And they'll look like this if you've done it correctly. Now to marinate the meat, let's start with four ounces of pork or chicken slivers. And to that, we'll add an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, an eighth of a teaspoon of sugar, a quarter teaspoon of light soy sauce, half a teaspoon of Shaoxing cooking wine, a quarter teaspoon of cornstarch, and half a teaspoon of neutral oil. Then mix the marinade into the meat and refrigerate it for at least 20 minutes or up to overnight. While our protein is marinating, it's a perfect time to rehydrate all of our dried ingredients. So let's begin by washing the dried shiitake mushrooms under cold running water to remove any dirt or sediment that might be on them. And here we've got about four to six small shiitake mushrooms, and we'll pour boiling water over them and allow them to soak for about 30 minutes to an hour. And of all the dried ingredients, this is the only one you'll want to save the soaking liquid from. Shiitake mushrooms are super high in glutamates, so by using the liquid to make some of our broth later, we can add a lot of natural savoriness to it. After the mushrooms have been soaked and drained, lightly squeeze them to remove any excess water, then place the mushrooms on their side and slice off the tough stems. These don't properly hydrate, so you can just throw them away. Then take the tops and slice them into about one-eighth inch pieces like this. And you can keep these in a storage container for about three to four days if you want to prep them in advance. For the black fungus, here we've got about four to six small pieces, and we'll just pour boiling water over them and let them soak for about 30 minutes to an hour. After they're ready, strain the mushrooms and discard the soaking liquid. To prep them, all you'll do is find the little tough section at the bottom where it was connected to the tree and slice that off. Then roll them up like a little cigar and make about one-quarter inch slices. They'll look like this if you've done it correctly. For the day lilies, you'll just put about 20 of them in a bowl and cover it with cool water for about 20 to 30 minutes. Then strain and discard the soaking liquid. After the lilies are soaked, you'll slice off the tough end from both sides and throw it away. Then take each day lily and cut it in half like this. These can be kind of chewy and very floral tasting, so it's better to slice them in half before adding them to the soup. Now, to prepare the protein, let's start by heating up some lightly salted water in a large pot or wok until it's simmering. Then toss in the meat and cook it until it's almost done, usually about two to three minutes. A lot of recipes online tell you to cook the meat in the broth, but I find cooking it separately gets you a cleaner flavor and a clearer broth because you won't have to skim any scum out of it. Then remove the meat and set it aside until you're ready to make the soup. The only other ingredient you'll want to par-cook are the bamboo shoots, so strain them from the can and toss them in the same water you cooked the protein in for about 30 to 60 seconds. The reason we'll blanch the bamboo shoots before making the soup is because they can sometimes sort of have a tinny metallic taste that is kind of funky, and blanching them beforehand will remove that off flavor and firm them up a bit. When they're done, remove the bamboo shoots from the water and set them aside. To make the broth, you'll simply follow the instructions on the can or the box, but replace a bit of the water with the shiitake mushroom soaking liquid if you have any. So here I've got six cups of the prepared chicken broth. We'll begin by heating it over medium heat until it's warm, and we'll season the broth with two teaspoons of salt, half a teaspoon of sugar, one tablespoon of Chinese light soy sauce, and one teaspoon of Chinese dark soy sauce. Then stir in the seasonings until they're dissolved and give it a taste. Adjust with extra salt, sugar, or soy sauce if necessary. And the broth should taste well seasoned. After you've got it like you like it, we'll whisk in one teaspoon of fresh grated ginger into the broth. And I noticed the flavor of ginger in a lot of the soups I tried around town, but I hardly ever saw actual chunks in many of the soups. So I prefer grating it, so you get the faint flavor of ginger instead of the little diced pieces that tend to overwhelm all the other flavors. Then we'll toss in the pork or the chicken, both mushrooms, the day lilies, half a cup of julienned carrots, half a cup of sliced bamboo shoots, and four ounces of sliced hard or firm tofu. To prepare the tofu, you'll just take the block and make about one half inch cuts down it, like this. And then slice each of these sections into about one half inch matchsticks. They'll look like this if you've done it correctly. And then you'll just heat all of the ingredients through for about three to five minutes. You don't really need to cook anything other than the carrots, but we're just allowing the mushrooms to soak up some of the seasoning. When you feel everything is up to temperature, slowly raise the heat until you're at a faint simmer. Then prepare a cornstarch slurry by adding five tablespoons of cornstarch to five tablespoons of water and stirring it until it's completely fluid. If you made this beforehand, you'll likely need to stir it again before using it because it's a non-Newtonian liquid and the cornstarch will settle at the bottom. Next, slowly pour the slurry into the while stirring because it can clump up if you don't keep it moving. And that's an important and invaluable lesson in life. You always have to keep it moving. After you've added the slurry, you'll want to give it a minute or two in the simmering broth to thicken it up. And it may seem a little thicker than you're used to, but we'll be adding the vinegar at the end and it will slightly loosen it up a bit. When the consistency seems good to you, and you can test it by dipping a spoon into the broth and seeing if it coats the back like this, you'll then lower the heat so it's just under a simmer and beat one egg with a splash of water. The water will loosen the egg up and help us pour much finer threads. Now pour the egg in as thin a stream as possible. And you don't want to stir the soup while doing this because you want the egg to set in the broth. This will help us get those wispy strands you so often see in a good hot and sour soup. After about a minute or two and you see the egg has set, gently stir it into the soup so it's evenly distributed. Then kill the heat and allow the soup to cool very slightly. While the soup is cooling off, in a small bowl or measuring cup, mix in three tablespoons of Chinese black vinegar, one teaspoon of ground white pepper, and one teaspoon of toasted sesame oil and whisk until they're well combined. And a side note, if you're using white vinegar, you'll probably want to use about half the amount of black vinegar because white vinegar is particularly acidic. Now pour in the vinegar, white pepper, and sesame oil and stir it into the soup. Give it a taste and I like mine somewhat mild so you may have to adjust with extra vinegar or white pepper if you like it more hot and or sour. And this is a classic and in my opinion, a much more refined version of a Chinese takeout hot and sour soup. So before we do the taste test, I want to give you one last tip. If you make this soup in advance and store it for any amount of time, you'll likely need to add just a bit more vinegar and white pepper before you serve it because they both lose their potency very quickly. Now let's give it a taste test and see how we've done. Hot and sour soup is a sort of acid test of a good restaurant. If the soup is legit, usually the rest of the food is good too. So if you make the version in this video, you will know what a quality hot and sour soup should taste like. And if you enjoyed this video, make sure to check out the Chinese takeout wonton soup video here. Thanks for watching. See you next time.