Go Back
Vegan Hot and Sour Soup, vegan recipe

Vegan Hot and Sour Soup

A takeout-style vegan hot and sour soup with dried shiitake, wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and tofu, heated with white pepper and soured with rice vinegar added off the heat.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings: 4 bowls
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Mushrooms and broth
  • 8 dried shiitake mushrooms stems removed, soaking water reserved
  • 1/2 cup dried wood ear mushrooms or 1 cup sliced fresh wood ear
  • 1 cup mushroom soaking liquid strained, reserved from rehydrating the mushrooms
  • 5 cups vegetable broth
Aromatics and vegetables
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated
  • 1 medium carrot julienned
  • 1/2 cup bamboo shoots canned, drained, and julienned
  • 14 ounces firm tofu drained and cut into thin strips
  • 2 green onions thinly sliced, whites and greens kept separate
Seasoning and thickener
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari for gluten free
  • 1 teaspoon cane sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper plus more to taste
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar added off the heat
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons cold water for the slurry
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon chili oil optional, to serve

Method
 

  1. Put the dried shiitake and wood ear mushrooms in a bowl and cover them with 2 cups of hot water. Let them soak for 30 minutes, until soft and pliable. Lift the mushrooms out, squeeze them gently over the bowl, and strain the soaking water through a fine sieve into another bowl to catch any grit. You should have about a cup of dark, savory liquid, so save it.
  2. Slice the shiitake, cutting away any tough stems, and cut the wood ear into bite-size pieces after trimming off the hard knuckles. Soaking the mushrooms can be done a day ahead; keep them and their liquid covered in the fridge.
  3. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant but not browned. Add the shiitake, wood ear, carrot, and bamboo shoots and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, until the carrot starts to soften. Splash in 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and stir to coat.
  4. Pour in the vegetable broth and the reserved mushroom soaking liquid and bring the pot to a boil. Add the tofu strips, the remaining 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and the cane sugar. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 8 to 10 minutes so the tofu takes on the flavor of the broth.
  5. Whisk the cornstarch with the cold water until it is completely smooth, then whisk it again right before using. With the soup at a gentle simmer, pour the slurry in a thin stream while stirring. Keep stirring for 1 to 2 minutes, until the broth thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
  6. Take the pot off the heat, then stir in the rice vinegar, the ground white pepper, the toasted sesame oil, and the green parts of the onions. Taste and adjust the balance, adding more rice vinegar for sour or more white pepper for heat. Ladle into bowls and finish with a drizzle of chili oil and chopped cilantro if you like.

Notes

Ground white pepper, not chili, is what gives classic hot and sour soup its heat, so do not skip it; it tastes different from black pepper and builds as it sits in the hot broth. Add it a little at a time and taste as you go. The rice vinegar goes in only after the pot is off the heat, because simmering it cooks off the sharpness you want in the finished bowl. Dried wood ear mushrooms keep for months in the pantry, so a bag from an Asian market or online is a good investment if you make this soup often. For a gluten-free pot, use tamari in place of the soy sauce and check that your vegetable broth is wheat free.