How To Make Delicious Hot and Sour Soup

Right, what is up everyone? Today I'm going to show you something very quick, easy and delicious. Hot and sour soup. This is a must-order for me when I'm at Chinese takeaways. So I'm going to show you how to make at home. With a few simple ingredients and some condiments, you'll be able to create this dish too. Without further ado, let's go. There are many ingredients that you can put in your hot and sour soup, but today I'm going to show you what I put in it. First of all, some Chinese mushrooms and some dried wood ear fungus. This is like wood ear mushrooms that has been shredded up and it's been dried. You can buy these readily available at a Chinese supermarket. What we're going to do first of all is just soak them in some hot water because they take a bit of time. So just give them about 10-15 minutes. Meat-wise, you can put any meat that you like. Chicken, pork, ham, beef or no meat. Okay, just vegetarian. So for me, I like to have some chicken in my hot and sour soup. So I've got some chicken breast here, just half and I'm going to slice it up into thin pieces. Half it again and just go down with the knife into thin pieces. Half a chicken breast, so literally a tiny bit of salt, a fifth of a teaspoon, a little bit of white pepper, just a bit. We'll be using this in the soup later on as well. Shaoxing cooking wine, just a touch. You don't have to put it in if you don't want it. And some potato starch, about a third of a tablespoon. Quickly give it a mix. One tablespoon of oil. This will lock in all the flavours and keep your chicken from drying out. We'll just set this aside and give it about 10 minutes as well. Now that your chicken is marinating, let's prep some vegetables. A carrot, you'll only need about half. Slice this up into thin strips into a bowl. Some tofu, halve it and slice it down into strips. It is recommended that you use firm tofu. All right, I've got some peas here. This is optional. You don't have to put it in. It just gives a bit of extra flavour and a bit of colour as well. I think that's quite a nice addition. Now we're going to bring back our Chinese mushrooms and drain out the woody fungus. They're ready now. It's been about 15 minutes. Chinese mushrooms, ready as well. Nice and soft. We're just going to slice it quickly. Remove the end bit and just slice into strips. Crack one egg into a bowl and give it a quick whisk. Here are the key condiments you need for this dish. I've just enhanced the flavour of your soup. Sesame oil and white pepper are your best friend for this dish. White pepper especially because of the heat. Sesame oil for fragrance. Some light soy sauce. Some dark soy sauce for colour. Chicken powder if you like. And finally, last but not least, some vinegar. Hence the sourness. I am using Chinese black vinegar but you can use white vinegar as well. White vinegar will provide a sharper kick. If you want a more authentic flavour, I recommend using Chinese black vinegar. This brand is very good. Alright guys, almost forgot some spring onions. Slice it up. This will be used for garnishing at the end. Additionally, you'll need some cornstarch or potato starch slurry to thicken your soup with. And with everything ready, let's get cooking. Wok on. In the wok, add one and a half litres of water. This will serve about three to four people. Cheers guys. So whilst the water is boiling, let's season. So add your chicken stock in. So according to taste, half a teaspoon of salt, third of a teaspoon of MSG, sugar, half a teaspoon. Because you've already got chicken stock, I'm only putting a third of a teaspoon of chicken powder, sesame oil, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, about one teaspoon. The water is coming up to a boil. Chicken in. Just going to poach it. Alright, make sure it separates in the soup. Chinese mushrooms and wood ear in. Carrots in. Right, quick taste first. Good. Right, tofu and peas in. Give this another 20 seconds. So the reason why we use more water in a wok is because the liquid will evaporate quite quickly when it's cooking. So bring this to a boil and get your potato starch water ready. Potato starch water. Slowly in and stir. A bit more. Right. So that's the consistency you want. Egg. High heat. Around the side. Give it a stir. Push the wok off the heat. White pepper. Plenty of it. Nice and spicy. Right. Mix it in. And vinegar. Depending on how sour you like it. Right. I've got about two tablespoons here. Around. And you don't need to turn on the heat anymore. Otherwise the vinegar will evaporate. So there you are guys. And we're ready to serve. Add a bit of spring onions. Let's give it a taste. Nice. So if you guys like it more spicy, you can put some chili flakes in it as well. Chicken. Nice and soft. Nice and tender. So I hope you've enjoyed watching this video. I hope you've learned something new from today. And I'll catch you next time. Bye. And it's been dried. You can buy these readily. You can buy these available. You can buy these ready and available.