This has lots of different flavors going on, and is a very special soup to serve your guests. The spicy hot comes from the white pepper, and the sour comes from the vinegar.

Chinese Spicy Hot And Sour Soup

wood ear mushrooms

shiitake mushrooms

tiger lily buds

chicken stock

bamboo shoots

pork

soy sauce

white sugar

salt

white pepper

red wine vinegar

cornstarch

water

½ (16 ounce) package firm tofu, cubed

egg, lightly beaten

sesame oil

green onion

Soak the dried mushrooms and tiger lily buds in warm water for 20 minutes.  After trimming off any tough stems, slice the mushrooms.  With the fingers, shred the tiger lily stems.


Place the mushrooms, tiger lily buds, stock, bamboo shoots, and shredded pork into a saucepan.  Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.


Stir in soy sauce, sugar, salt, white pepper, and vinegar.  Combine cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water.   Add a little of the hot soup to the cornstarch, and then return all to the pan.  Heat to boiling, stirring.  Add the bean curd, and cook 1 to 2 minutes.


Just before serving, turn off the heat.  Stir the egg in gradually.  Mix in sesame oil.  Sprinkle each serving with scallions.


I made this last night and it turned out fantastic! I was looking for a recipe that was as close to P.F. Chang's Hot &amp; Sour soup as possible. (my husband and 20 year old daughter LOVE their soup.) 
I did make a few modifications to accomplish this. I couldn't find the wood ear mushrooms or lily buds so doubled fresh (not dried) shiitake mushrooms. This way you don't have to soak them. I sliced both the mushrooms and bamboo shoots into very thin slivers so my daughter doesn't see big chuncks as she's not a mushroom lover. I used a full can of bamboo shoots, also slivered and halved. I doubled everything but the tofu (medium firm)and the mushrooms. And with 3 of us eating I still only had about 1 to 2 cups left. 
And I think the most important thing I did was cook it 3 hour before dinner for 30 minutes. Then, just before dinner I re-heated it. Then took it off the burner and waited for 3 to 4 minutes before adding the scrabbled egg and sesame oil. Make sure it stops boiling before adding these last 2 things. The egg turns out great this way. Not cloudy like others mentioned. What an excellent soup. Thanks.       

Excellent! Like many, I couldn't find tiger lily buds and wood ear mushrooms so I used losts of dried shitake and oyster mushrooms.  I also added a bit more sour by putting in an extra tablespoon of rice vinegar.  I will make again!  It is great when you have a cold!

I used white vinegar instead of red wine vinegar and added chilli garlic sauce in it (to make it spicy).  If you don't have ground pork, you can thinly sliced pork meat or even chicken, add a little oil in the saucepan, stir-fry thinly sliced ginger (1-2cm piece) and add the meat, stir well until the meat is browned and then you add the other ingredients.  The ginger will add some spicyness into the soup as well.  Since I did change the recipe, I gave it 4 stars.  Overall, very delicious soup.

Although quite a challenge finding the ingredients when you haven't the slightest idea of what you are look for, this recipe turned out to be outstanding or, in the least, a close call to my favourite restaurant but defiantly better then some!
One thing is for certain when using this recipe...use white pepper as it gives it that warm comforting feeling; chillies will just give that hot sting. It’s a keeper!


All and all its a keeper!



I,like previous reviewers, could not find tiger lilly buds, but it didn't make a difference.  This soup is EXCELLENT!  I loved it so much that I ate most of it before the family could even try it!  I will be making this all of the time...thank you very much for the recipe!

This soup is excellent and it's flavor is so good, this reminds me of the the soup I had at a local Chinatown. The soup is just right!!!!!

I am one of the few who actually keeps wood ear mushrooms in the pantry, but did not have the tiger lily buds or the dried shiitake mushrooms.   I will visit my local asian market to see if I can find the missing ingredients before I make again.  Also, I used extra firm tofu as suggested but will try silken tofu next time for the softer texture.  I will also add small shrimp as I usually see those in Hot &amp; Sour soup in Chinatown.  A good base recipe!  Thanks.
EDIT:  I now make this soup weekly, as I have grown to love it with the following changes:
12 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Handful wood ear mushroom, rehydrated in boiling water for 15 mins &amp; drained. NO SHIITAKES.
12-15 lily buds in same water (once they rehydrate, you open them up a bit)
1/2 tsp white pepper (no more, b/c it becomes overpowering)
1 lb pressed medium firm tofu, sliced into strips
1/2 cup thinly sliced BBQ pork
1/2 cup bamboo shoots
3 tablespoons chinese red vinegar
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup (or to taste) sweet chili sauce
3 or so tbsp cornstarch, mixed with water, have made it with more or less, depending on how thick you want your soup
2 eggs (beaten) Make sure you put these in right after you turn the heat off, beat well and pour into soup in a circular drizzle.  After a moment, stir and you will have those lovely ribbony eggy bits.  If you wait too long the egg will not solidify properly and just make the soup cloudy.  With changes, 5 star!  Everyone loves it!

I made a lot of changes....I ommittes all of the mushrooms, tofu etc. and ended up with just the soup and egg. I did like the soup, but needed to add more vinegar to get the "sour", and more cornstarch for a thicker soup.

EXCELLENT. I too couldn't find Tiger Lily Buds so just left them out. I did substitute Rice Vinegar and used 1/4 cup of it. I am more than pleased. A real keeper for the recipe box!!

This recipe was AWESOME. I couldn't find any of the odd ingredients (tiger buds, etc) except dried shiitakes so I used those and just regular sliced mushrooms. I also used a whole can of bamboo shoots (didn't want to waste them) and added a bit more sugar but overall, this tasted almost identical. I left out the meat and tofu as well. Yum, yum!!!

a wonderful blend of authentic chineese tastes and a addictive type taste definitley a five star soup


TOTALLY in love with this soup! I crave hot and sour soup all the time and this one really hits the spot! I used baby bella mushrooms because that is what I had. Also used silken tofu because I'm not a fan of the firm.  Also I browned the pork in a little bit of seasame oil before adding to the soup because I made my soup in the crockpot.  I doubled everything, increased the red wine vinegar to 1/4 cup and let it cook on low in the crock pot for 8 hours.  My egg also turned out fine.  This one is getting added to my recipe box!

This is a great recipe for hot and sour soup.  It had great flavor and reminded me of a many a bowl of soup from the Chinese restaurant.  Glad that I will be able to duplicate it at home and know that it does not contain any MSG in it.

This recipe didn't taste anything like the hot and sour soups I have eaten in any of the numerous Chinese restaurants I have visited. It could be the recipe but then again it just may have been the cook! Not sure but too expensive to make again and find out.

This tasted exactly like my favorite restaurant's hot and sour!
I couldn't find dried shiitake, or wood ear mushrooms and tigerlily buds in my rural area, but I used canned shiitake mushrooms instead and it was very good.  The color of the soup was quite a bit paler, no doubt because of the lacking dried ingredients, and I had to add extra vinegar just to get it as sour as I like it, but overall I'd say this is a great recipe and I'll definitely make it again.

AWESOME SOUP! I made it as directed, except I used canned straw and oyster mushrooms. I also added a hefty teaspoon of Sriracha because I didn't see any ingredients in the recipe that would make this "spicy". I'm so glad I did. The end result was absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much for this recipe! 03-26 We just love this soup!!! I made it tonight with simple fresh button mushrooms, no meat, no bamboo, SOFT tofu, and no sesame oil. It's STILL delicious! Although I do think that sesame oil adds a much desired deeper tasting soup. I LOVE THIS RECIPE!

I've eaten Hot &amp; Sour soup many different times at many different locations.  This recipe is better than most restaurants!  The only one better is the First Wok in Grand Rapids, MI.   Most restaurants use "black fungus" in their Hot &amp; Sour soup, NOT Tiger lily buds - besides, Tiger lily buds are next to impossible to find and black fungus can be found in almost any Asian supermarket.  Also to keep the darker color of the soup, use only the egg white - not the whole egg.  The yolk turns the soup to a weird color, but doesn't effect the taste at all.  This is a great recipe!

This was awesome! I couldn't find the tiger lilys so I just omitted them.  I was able to find the wood ear mushrooms ( fresh ).  This tastes just like the hot and Sour soups you get at the best Chinese restaruants.  AWESOME.. I will definatly make this again!

This was my first attempt at hot &amp; sour soup, and it was incredible.  I didn't have the tiger lily buds, so I don't know if I really missed out or not.  The tang from the vinegar was very good.  I will definitely be making this in the future.  It was BETTER than restaurant hot &amp; sour soup.

Very good.I didn't put pork in mine and it was fine.You can make this soup as hot or sour as you want.This soup is inexpensive to make and I will make it again!!!!!!YUMMY

Wow, this soup is fantastic! However, since this is my all time favorite soup, I did make some changes to suit my preferences. I ended up doubling the vinegar b/c it wasn't quite "sour" enough for me.  Once I had added the measured ingredients, I decided to chunk it up a bit to make it more reminiscent of my favorite restaurant's H&amp;S soup, and so since I omitted the tofu I ended up using a full (heaping) cup of ground pork as well as a whole can of bamboo shoots. Like most others I couldn't find tiger lily buds/wood ear mushroom so I just used a bag of dried shitake. I added some ground garlic and ground ginger (the bottled style you keep in the refrigerator) to the pork as it was frying. Personally, I find stirring the egg in at the end can be a bit tricky.  Once your done &amp; you turn off the soup, be sure it has completely stopped boiling before adding the eggs...otherwise you get an unpleasant scrambled egg flavor to your soup. I will definitely be making this again and again. I love it! Thanx!!!

My first time ever making this soup.I loved it! I made a few adjustments; more vinegar, hot sauce, omitted tiger lily buds, added black fungus (cut thinly), and did not add any sugar. It was delicious..Thank you!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe!!  I don't typically like the Hot N Sour soup served in Chinese restaurants but made this for my husband.  We have, as a result, added this recipe to our usual meals and have it several times a month.  We also couldn't find tiger lilies and omitted them.  I wonder what flavor they bring, if any?  I serve this for family and friends as well, who love it too!  Thanks so much!

This was good, but needed a little extra kick. I will definitley make this again but perhaps add some red pepper flakes and up the vinegar. My significant other loved it as is.

As they say, just like the restaruants!  We used about 2x as much sugar becacuse we like it that way when we go out.  Next time we'll simply use regular mushrooms.  The dried ones we used were tough and detracted from the soup.  If company was over we'd probably try to stick with the authetic ones.

I'll bet that the dried tiger lily buds are the same as dried lily flower - which you can find at many Asian food stores. They are thin, brown tubular dried flowers which you soak, cut off the hard end, and if you are really ambitious, knot at the end for maximum crunchiness.  I found them years ago when making a similar recipe.  Enjoy!

Incredible. Tastes just like the soup in the restaurants - maybe better!!  It didn't come together for us until "after" the green onion &amp; egg were added. I did have to add some extra salt. Maybe because I used low-sodium soy etc.   Like magic, it came together. I used shitake 'shrooms. For an extra kick I added some fresh ginger, and even went as far as to add fresh shrimp at the very end - as they cook very quickly. Be careful not to overcook. My wife and I have always eaten this soup when we had gotten a severe cold. The white pepper and herbs always seem to take the misery of a severe head cold. THis is even more effective with the addition of the Hot Chili Pepper sauce.   I could not find Tiger lily buds. So i added extra green onion, which we love anyhow.  For those not familiar with white pepper, be careful a tablespoon packs a wallop, especially in hot brothy mixtures. So use with discretion.

The wood ear mushrooms, shiitake, and lily buds should be soaked for a few hours in water to soften up nicely.  The soup tastes MUCH better if you simmer it for 2-3 hours and don't add the cornstarch.  The lily buds need the time to soften up.  Add the tofu about 5 minutes before serving.  I also added about 3/4 teaspoon white pepper and 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar.  Left out the pork because we don't eat it.

Very good! I'm living in Taiwan and so finding the ingredients is easy, but I still held off on the tiger lily buds because here you have to buy them in bulk - about $10 for a big package! I couldn't justify that unless I knew I'd be using a lot of them. The color of my soup wasn't quite as pretty as the soup in the picture. Maybe if I used red bowls it would look like that! Regardless, it was very good and tastes just like the soup in restaurants here. I didn't make any changes except to make more than the original recipe called for - I knew it would be good!

OMG!!  If you have no taste buds or sense of smell, then this soup is for you.  I personally bought all the ingredients at a chinese supermarket and when we finished making the soup like the recipe says, we almost threw up.  I now know what caused the dinosaurs to become extinct.  WARNING, I can't stress enough not to make this.  I even think that a small group of people are behind this recipe to see how many fools make it and then post like me.  They must be laughing.  If so, you got me!  Worst of all, our home still smells like 200 men with dirty smelly feet are hanging out here.  It is horrific!  DO NOT MAKE THIS!  DO NOT MAKE THIS!  DO NOT MAKE THIS!  By the way, I'm rating this one star because there is no option for less stars!

I fine this recipe very similar to how I prepare Hot &amp; Sour Soup.  I use chicken as well as pork, they both are very good.  As bor the ingredients, I purchase most all of my tree mushroom and other Asian products in a good Chinese grocery store.  All of the ingredients are easily purchased but generally not in a general super market.  This is one of my favorite soups. RHartsook

It tasted nothing like what you would get at a asian restaurant. I wish i could get my money back for all the ingredients i had bought to make it.

This soup was excellent. Couldn't find the tiger lily buds, but did add a lot of mushrooms. Left out the salt and added more vinegar. I also added in some chili oil to boost the heat for our tastes. Thank you Holly!

oh, my god, i just can't believe what an excellent recipe this is.  it was dirt cheap
easy as pie to make, and it was the, and i mean THE best soup i have ever made.
i am just sorry i didn't triple the recipe for leftovers.

just a couple of variations, i don't eat meat, so i cut out the pork and used veggie 
broth.  i also doubled the vinegar.  but wow!!!  even my little girl had seconds.

Great recipe!  Accurate, easy instructions.  Test seasonings as you go to get the balance of hot and sour you like, especially if you're scaling the recipe.  Yum yum!

This was really good. I couldnt find tiger lily buds or wood ear shrooms though.  It was thicker than what I get at the local Chinese restaurant but it was great.  I will be making it again.  It is rather salty though for those trying to avoid too much sodium.  I'm going to work on cutting that back.

Just like my friend's.  I found the dried mushrooms + tiger lily buds online [I used to get them from a local Asian grocery - but I moved...[I used a few ounces each of chickem, pork + beef.  A chinese friend told me this is their version of "everything but the kitchen sink" leftovers in vegetable soup.

I am a big fan of hot and sour soup. This was my first time making this soup and it was an easy and fast recipe. I also added tofu instead of pork. Love it!!!

Fabulous! I could only find shitake mushrooms at my neighborhood market but that seemed fine. I added a lot. My famiy was grossed out by the tofu, not the taste but the little white cubes floating around. I think adding shrimp would be good - if you had some laying around. The consistency was thicker than I'm used to, but I liked it better. I'll be making this again, and again.

The tiger lily buds may seem like an unnecessary step, but really makes a difference, it's commonly found in Chinese farmers markets and Chinatowns in the apothecary like shops.  They're also called golden needles, and almost always sold dried.  Wood ear mushrooms are actually more commonly known as jelly ear fungus, my farmers market has them almost every week of the season.  Instead of bamboo shoots, I like baby corn and I added more cornstarch to get a thicker soup base.  Instead of red wine vinegar, I use the more traditional Chinese dark vinegar, and if I don't have that, Shanghai Red vinegar.  Otherwise, this is a great version and easily changed to suit different people's tastes.

I realize that one "hot &amp; sour soup" recipe can taste very different from the next.  I agree that this is similar to PF Chang's.  I found a "forest Blend" dried mushroom pack in the produce section of my suoermarket which contained woodear mushroom in addition to shitake, oyster &amp; porcini mushrooms.  I also skipped the tiger lily buds like a lot of other people.  And I decided to use beef stock instead of chicken because I'm used to seeing the soup a brown color.  It turned out really nice!

I had to add a bit more vinegar for a better sour balance and white pepper for spice.  I found dried tiger lily at a local Asian market, and also added a can of sliced bamboo shoots, which is similar in texture.

This recipe was bad. It didn't taste anything like restaurant Hot and Sour. It was expensive to make and I am going to end up throwing the whole thing out. It gave me indegestion for two days. Will not make again!

I'm so glad I found a recipe for hot and sour soup.  I always love getting it in restaurants but never knew what ingredients created those spicy, sour, savory flavors.  This recipe gave me the answer.  I love hot and sour soup when I'm sick.  Like everyone else, I didn't have tiger lily buds or wood ear mushrooms.  Instead, I upped the quantity of shiitake mushrooms (I used raw mushrooms instead of dry) and also threw in a few raw crimini mushrooms.  I used a full eight ounce can of bamboo shoots (drained).  I'm not sure if I did the egg thing accurately, I don't think I did, but the flavor still came through.  Mmmm, I love that spicy sour flavor - it is so satisfying.  Now I can make this recipe at home for myself - Thank you!!

This was very good!  I needed to add alot more cornstarch to thicken it the way I like but the taste was right on!  And I used canned bean sprouts instead of bamboo.  It was time consuming - but I will make again.

Very good recipe.  Didn't have bamboo shoots or tiger lily buds.  Substituted rice noodles for tofu.  This is a delicious recipe.   Thanks!

Tastes very Authentic! I used Woodear Mushrooms instead of the Dried Mushrooms.  The taste was very good.  This came out a little thicker than I was expecting, you may want to cut the Cornstarch in half and go up from there.

amazing.  I omitted the pork and substituted arrowroot powder for cornstarch.  I love hot n sour soup and this was the best one i've ever had!

My boyfriend absolutely LOVES it! We couldn't find the mushrooms as with all of them. We substituted with oyster, shitakes, white, and bella. It wasn't sour enough for us but still amazing. As good as it was, it doesn't remind us of our favorite restaurant but it's a good base to start with. Thanks so much for sharing! Will be making again.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must first announce that I adore hot and sour soup, but I abhor mushrooms and I'm allergic to tofu, so when I'm out I eat the broth and veggies and give the "dregs" to my darling hubby!  So I'm strange!  I've tried other recipes in the past to make "my" version of hot and sour soup at home and have been dissatisfied.  This one was pretty darn good though.  Obviously I left out all mushrooms, and cooked the broth with some chopped green onions, the bamboo shoots, and also some chopped water chestnuts.  Also added 1/4 teaspoon beef broth to compensate for the mushroom flavor.  Might add some chopped cabbage also next time.  I also doubled the amount of vinegar and pepper, since I like mine really hot and sour, as well as added a dash of hot chili oil at the end.  I followed the rest of the recipe exactly, which I think was the most important part of the recipe once you take out my unusual tastes!  The base flavors were far better than recipes I have tried in the past, and I definitely plan to repeat this in the future.  Thanks.

very interesting!  I was able to find the dried mushrooms and lily flower buds at an asian grovery store.  I didn't add the pork, used 3 cans of chicken broth, omitted the salt, increased soy sauce to 1 tablespoon, used 3 TBS red wine vinegar, one clove of garlic, I think everything else I kept the same.  My bamboo shoots were kind of tough though....maybe a bad brand?

Healthy and tasty.  I left out the sesame oil and cut down on the salt.  I saved the water from soaking the mushrooms for mixing with the cornstarch.  I would make this again, and next time I'll include the tiger lily buds.  I found them in Chinatown but they were only sold in large packages.  Perhaps we should do an Allrecipes ingredient swap, because I could not locate the wood ear mushrooms.  :-)  ETA; I soak my mushrooms for a minimum of four hours.

This is a review for the stock and the method.  I only used dried shiitake as the mushroom, and some bamboo shoots.  The stock tasted good, but it's wasn't very "hot" or "sour" so I doctored it with more vinegar and chili oil.  I liked how easy it was, in my head it was a lot harder :) Although I liked the recipe with changes, I will still look for other hot &amp; sour soup recipes.

This recipe was horrible. Poor instructions (what do you do with the ground pork? Cook it? Cut it?). I went to an Asian grocery store and got everything I needed, and this recipe still left me throwing the whole thing out.

Yum!  I love Chinese food and I have to say that the recipe really tastes authentic.  The tiger-lily buds were impossible to find, and like just about everyone else I omitted them.  I also had to play around with the ingredients a bit to make it hot and sour enough for my tastes, but that's easy enough to tweak.  I added more  cornstarch because I like my soup thicker and a bit more vinegar to make it more sour.  Overall a fantastic recipe (and easy to make too!)

This is a great soup!!! I loved it!! I actually made 4 servings because I was afraid it would be a flop, but I wish I had made more....I used packaged mushrooms and could not find the odd ingredients.  I left out the pork and egg. This is a recipe that I will be making along with the Chinese recipes I already make....GREAT recipe!!!!

This was very good, a close replica to what I get in the restaurants.

This recipe was going great until I added the egg. I'm not sure why but it turned coudy and the flavor was a little dull. I tastsed it just before the adding of the cornstarch and it was perfect. Must have been something I did. I am willing to try it agan another time.

This just didn't taste right to me.  I followed the recipe exactly except I only used Shitake mushrooms.  Next time I'll just save some money and go buy some soup from my local Chinese cafe.

This recipe is perfect as written, it's flavors are simple and delicious, and I find this much better than what is served in restuarants.  The difficult part is finding a store with the proper ingredients.

This was a good recipe. I made a few changes--cut out the tiger lilly buds and woodear mushrooms and used matchsticks of a grilled peppercorn porkloin instead of ground pork--but overall the flavor was very nice. Next time I think I'll cut the shitake mushrooms, too...just not my favorite...and look for tree fungus at the oriental market to add a little something back.

Love this! Doubled it, as many have. Will use less tofu next time. Pretty much followed recipe as is, always do the first time I make something. Used thinly sliced pork instead of ground. I will use less tofu next time.
I was lucky to find the mushrooms &amp; tiger lily at my local Asian mkt.
Don't get the 1 star bad reviews.

Missing something - the soup just didn't have a lot of depth. I might try to experiment with this to make it better, but I would not follow the recipe as closely again. This was the first time that I have cooked with lily buds, and I will use those again.

This was great. Like many others I couldn't find tiger lily, and did not want to spend the amount asked for for the wood ear mushrooms. So I ended up using a lot of fresh shiitake. The 2nd time I made it I omitted the salt (I used bouillon cubes rather than stock), and doubled the vinegar. Originally the sour component was missing. Using rice wine vinegar would probably be closer to authentic.

This is one of the best soups I have made. We had a boy from China staying with us and he loved it. But even he didn't know what Tiger Lilies were. I couldn't find them anywhere, so I left them out. I can't say if it ruined it or not. I still think it was the best!

This recipe is much better than any hot sour soup I have had in any restaurant.  I couldn't acquire wood ears or shitake mushrooms, but used canned straw mushrooms instead.  I also didn't use lily buds, but wouldn't mind looking for some in the future.  I shredded a piece of pork myself (not much trouble) and found the tofu already cubed in the store.  The recipe was quick and tasty.  The only change I would possibly make would be not adding the salt and finding a lower sodium chicken stock.  The soup seemed a bit too salty.  Other than that I highly recommend this recipe.

I took out the sugar and the salt as the chicken stock I used had salt and I thought that was plenty. I didn't add in the pork or the buds (I couldn't find them). But it turned out well. Will definitely make again!

Great soup; needed more vinegar and omitted the pork, sugar, cornstarch.

I must admit that I was worried by some of the negative reviews but it was great! I didn't use tiger lillies and I used fresh shiitake and canned straw mushrooms.  I did add more vinegar and a chili hot sauce.  Loved it!  Will make it again and again!

A very good soup -- I've made it several times now. I've left out the pork and the tiger lily buds, and it was still great. Just like in the restaurants. Thanks!

Absolutely delightful! Double the recipe...trust me, you'll eat it :) Only recommendation - cut the amount of cornstarch in half. Enjoy!

I did what JanNoel suggested and waited 3-4 minutes before adding the egg but it still turned cloudy. Nevertheless, this was the best hot and sour soup that I have ever had and I have had a hard time finding one at a restaurant that didn't taste like wet dog. I ended up skipping the pork and adding a little more chicken bouillon and vinegar. I added fresh mushrooms instead of dried and I have tiger lilies in my backyard so I snipped off some of some buds and tossed them on in. They ended up tasting great in the soup and it truly lived up to it's name as spicy hot and sour soup!! This will definitely be made again.

Tastes like the real thing...I make it anytime we have leftover pork roast

I was looking for low fat ways to use tofu because I keep reading about its healthful properties.  We couldn't find tiger lily buds so we omited them, and couldn't find dried mushrooms so we used fresh woodear ones.  Even so, it was absolutely delicious.

This recipe is exactly like the hot and sour soup at my favorite chinese restaurant. I made it once with regular black pepper and it wasn't very spicy. Then I made it with ground white pepper and holy mama! It was GREAT! I also doubled the amount of red wine vinegar.

This recipe definitely delivered the homemade chinese deliciousness that was just reminiscent enough of chinese take-out. I made the soup base as described but instead of pork and tofu I added some frozen veggie wontons and shrimp. This is only because I don't eat pork and I was saving my tofu for another recipe later in the week. I did not find it necessary to add salt to this recipe so my only suggestion would be to wait until the very end and season to taste.

Since I'm a fairly inexperienced cook, I've read this recipe six times trying to figure out what I did wrong. I followed the recipe (even found dried black mushrooms) except that I used fresh shiitakes rather than dried, and couldn't find the tiger lily buds so left them out. What I ended up with was very bland - not the hot and sour taste that I was expecting at all. And rather than the deep brown color that I am used to when I order out, my soup was close to the color of chicken stock.

This soup is fabulous!!! It tastes just like the soup I buy at the little Chinese place down the road from me.  I am so excited to have this in my recipe collection.  Thank You!!

I just went down to my local Asian market and the nice folks there steered me in the right direction. This soup is great, but I also added about twice the amount of vinegar, and a little more white pepper. I omitted the sugar, since I had some rice wine vinegar, which contains sweeteners already. I cut a leftover pork chop into strips instead of using ground pork. I had purchased a big package of fresh shiitakes at the Asian mart and used most of them in another recipe, but put the last handful in a paper bag in the fridge. When I took them out, they had dried nicely. My husband, sick with the flu, is very happy right now!

I would like more "Hot" in this recipe.  I added lots of thai chilli sauce and it made it tasted more like the hot and sour I am used too.  Overall good base recipe though.

I did not care for this recipe. Taste nothing like Hot and Sour I am use to.

Yummy!  This was very, very close to the soup from my favorite Chinese recipe. Will be making this often! 

Yum!  The first time i made this, I didn't have any red wine vinegar, so i used white vinegar and about a 1/4 of red wine - it was only alright. The second time, it was delicious!  I used regular wild mushrooms, diced up a leftover pork chop and an extra egg. I followed the recipe as written and then added a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice, a little bit of red wine, (because I liked the flavor it added the first time). So good!  It would've been just as good had I just followed the directions exactly.  Yum!

Excellent!  This tastes like great restaurant soup.  I add a little more vinegar, sugar and some vietnamese chili sauce as it's cooking to spice it up a bit.  Love it!!!

i put more chili and vinegar because i like it more spicy and sour but overall it's a tasty soup!

This soup had great flavor!  My family loved it and we will make it frequently.

Love it! I think it could be better than many of the restaurant soups I've had. I love the more organic/woody flavor of the mushrooms in this recipe.
It was made as the recipe stated except I did add more pepper and vinegar to adjust to my taste, and no lily flowers and no wood ear mushrooms, didn't have time to try and find them. Instead I used the dried shitake and fresh cremini mushrooms. I also lightly browned the pork before adding it.  However it was still delish and I most definitely will make it again! Thanks!

I LOVE hot and sour soup. This was not to my liking.

Excellent soup! I replaced first three ingredients with regular sliced fresh mushrooms.. but overall stuck to the recipe.  I did add a can of tiny shrimp, cayenne and red pepper flakes, and a lmore vinegar and corn starch... but with this base recipe, you really can't go wrong and it's all a matter of taste.  Turned out better than I've had at most restaurants!

I must have made this wrong - my soup was very thick.

I altered the recipe a bit, but I appreciate the starting point. I doubled the white pepper, exchanged the red vinegar for 1/4 cup rice vinegar, omitted the pork, doubled the mushrooms, added the scallions sooner (more of an ingredient than a garnish). 


Great. I added more vinegar, and boiled  hot peppers in the soup to add more spice. Thanks for the recipe!

It was simple enough, but it really didn't look or taste quite like the hot and sour soup I've had in restaurants.

I liked this recipe a lot.  I added fresh ginger and garlic to make a it bit punchier, but the overall flavor was great and it was very easy to make.

Absolutely excellent!  The egg is a little tricky.  Overall the taste is exactly what I had a hankerin' for!  Thanks for the great recipe!

I did not care for this recipe. This recipe tastes like an American hot and sour soup, definitely not Chinese or Asian. Tiger lillies easy to find at the Asian super market. 

H&amp;S is my fave dish, I make it weekly and this wasn't even close.

Yielded a very bland flavor for me. The ingredients are all great, but I had to add quite a bit more vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar to get the flavor profile to my liking. I like my hot and sour soups with some 'oomph' - so I found it necessary to tweak quite a bit to get it right.

It just didn't do it for me.  Not the right flavor.

chinese spicy hot and sour soup

Servings: 6

Cost: $8.68 /serving

Author : MARBALET

Ingredients

Instructions

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