Hot and Sour Soup
A classic Indo chinese soup with tang, heat and comfort
Equipment
- 2 cooking pots with lid
- 1 Chopping board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Ladle
- 1 Turner
- 1 sieve
Ingredients
Chicken Stock (base of the soup)
- 3-4 chicken pieces with bone
- 1.25 litres water approximately
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 garlic Cloves
- 1 tsp salt
Veggies and protiens
- 900 ml chicken stock
- 1 cup shredded chicken (from the boiled chicken)
- 1 cup carrots finely chopped
- 1 cup French beans chopped
- 1 cup white cabbage shredded
- 1/2 cup celery chopped
- 1 bunch spring onions chopped
- 1 tbsp green chilli crushed (adjust to taste)
- 1 tbsp ginger finely chopped
- 1 tbsp garlic finely chopped
spices and seasonings
- 2 tsp soya sauce Light or dark (half the quantity if using dark)
- 1 tsp salt approximately ( adjust to taste)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper powder approximately (adjust to taste)
- 1 tsp Ajinomoto also known as monosodium glutamate, flavour enhancer or chinese salt
Oils and liquids
- 1 tbsp sesame oil preferred but can use any cooking oil
- 1/2 cup water fo cornflour slurry
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp distilled vinegar
other ingredients
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- CHICKEN SOUP
- Boil the chicken pieces with water, salt, bay leaves and garlic cloves
- Remove the chicken pieces , shred them and keep aside.
- strain and reserve stock for the soup.
Preparing Soup
- Wash and pat dry each vegetable using a kitchen towel. Chop all the vegetables as shown in the video, keeping them uniform for a perfect texture of the soup.
- Peel the carrots.
- Slice each carrot lengthwise into slanted slices.
- Cut each slanted slice into thin julinnes.
- Finally cut julinnes into fine pieces
- Take the head and tail off from each bean.
- Cut each bean lengthwise into thin slanted slices.
- Chop the white part of the stick. Slice it lengthwise and then chop into thin slices.
- Divide the cabbage into half and then quarter pieces. Slice each quarter piece thinly.
- In a cooking pot heat sesame oil.
- Add chopped ginger, garlic and crushed green chillies. Saute till aromatic Approximately 1 min. Keep the flame medium to high during this process.
- Next add carrots and saute for a minute on medium to high flame.
- Repeat the process with cabbage this time.
- Finally add celery and beans one at a time, saute for 2 mins ( approximately). Adding one vegetable at a time helps in controlling the water released from each vegetable. It prevents the vegetables being soggy and maintains the crunch.
- Pour in the prepared chicken stock and the shrreded chicken. Mix everything together by stirring gently.
- Add all the seasonings and sauces - salt, pepper, ajinomoto, vinegar , lemon juice and soya sauce
- Let the soup simmer for 3-4 mins to allow the flavours to blend in. Do not overcook. The vegetables we are using do not take very long to cook . We are looking for a crunchy texture of vegetables and prevent them from being overcooked and become soggy.
- Alongside prepare a slurry of the cornflour by mixing cornflour with 1/2 cup water at normal temperature.
- Keep the heat medium during this process.
- As soon as the soup reaches the boiling temperature, quickly add the slurry with one hand and stir vigorously to avoid lumps. The soup should have thickened now. Let it simmer on low for just a couple of minutes.
- Taste the seasonings and adjust according to preference. These measurements will give you average heat and tangyness.
- Beat an egg with a fork. Switch of the flame. Add the beaten egg and stir vigorously. Its important that the soup is boiling hot at this point. This will give the silky egg finish to the soup.
- Finally garnish with spring onions
- Serve hot to enjoy it to the fullest !
Notes
Suggestions And Tips
- The chicken can be replaced with Tofu for a vegetarian version. Replace the chicken stock with either homemade vegetable stock or the vegetable stock cube to match the flavours.
- Chicken can also be replaced by small size prawns, they can just be added when adding vegetables one by one. No need to pre cook. Use Chicken stock cube to match the flavours in this case.