Not if I'm eating it...no tofu for me, but I do love hot and sour soup!

Nah. Tofu is optional. You could sub some noodles or pasta of some kind, or some rice if you want.

Hot and Sour soup is one of those dishes that everybody makes their own way. Add this, take out that.

At different times, I've made it with small wontons, shrimp, steamed fish cake, leftover spaetzel and once with cheese tortellini...admittedly, that one was a bit odd but it suited my craving at the time.

I don't expect the world will come to an end even if you never learn to like tofu. ;)

T&T recipes (with or w/o tofu) please! DH would love me to make it for him. I'm all for it IF it's relatively simple!

This is MQmoi's recipe, I have made it several times, and it is excellent. Absolutely leave out the tofu if you don;t care for it, it doesn;t add flavor at all! Oh, and I;ve never used the lily buds either...... but I do add quite a bit of black pepper and chili oil.

Alexa

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Hot and Sour Soup Mique
Note: Freezing the pork chop for 15 minutes will make it easier to slice into thin strips.
10 dried wood or cloud ear mushrooms (optional)
4 dried shiitake mushrooms (8 if not using wood ears)
Combine in a medium bowl and let stand until the mushrooms are softened, about 20 minutes
10 tiger lily buds (optional)
1 1/2 cups hot water
Meanwhile, combine in a small bowl:
5 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 ounces center-cut pork chop, cut into l/4-inch strips
Remove the mushrooms and lily buds. Reserve the soaking liquid but put thru a filter to remove sediments. Remove any tough pieces of the mushrooms and slice into strips. Discard the tough ends of the lily buds and cut in half. Combine.
4 ounces firm tofu, well drained, cut into strips like the pork
Bring mushroom water to a boil in a soup pot along with:
4 cups Chicken Stock, Brown Chicken Stock, or any vegetable stock
Add the mushroom mixture, reduce the heat, and simmer for 3 mins
Stir together in a small bowl:
3 tablespoons cornstarch 3 tablespoons water
Add to the soup & simmer, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened.
Add the meat and tofu along with:
3/4 to 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Add: 1 large egg, well beaten
Remove from the heat and add:
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Garnish with sliced scallion greens and for very hot and sour: rice vinegar, chili oil

There was an excellent thread on soup a few months ago, started by booberry, linked below. I posted my (not really, adapted from a cookbook by Nina Simonds) hot and sour soup recipe there, I'll paste it in below. If I wasn't using tofu, I might use ramen noodles.

''Start heating the soup base, which is 6 cups chicken broth, 2 TBSP rice wine or sake, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar. Bring to boil.

Meanwhile, prep 15-20 mushrooms. The recipe calls for soaking ''6 dried Chinese black mushrooms'' and ''10 dried wood ears'' in hot water, but I've used fresh white/brown mushrooms, fresh shiitakes, dried whatever kind of mushroom, etc. Anyway, cut the mushrooms into matchsticks - i.e. slice them into 1/4'' slices then cut those into 1/4'' sticks.

Prep 1/2 lb pork loin. Trim off fat, gristle. Slice across the grain, 1/4'' thick. Then cut these into 1/4'' matchsticks. Partly freezing the trimmed pork can make the slicing easier. Marinate the pork shreds in 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice wine or sake, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp cornstarch.

Prep 1 lb of firm tofu. Cut into matchsticks just as you did the pork, but no freezing or marinating.

Lightly beat 2 eggs, set aside in a bowl.

Mix a bowl of soup seasonings, being 3 TBSP soy sauce, 3 TBSP rice vinegar, 2 tsp sesame oil, 2 TBSP minced green onions, 2 TBSP minced fresh ginger, and some (1 tsp) pepper. Mince an addition 1 TBSP of ginger and set it aside.

Make a slurry of 4 TBSP water and 2 TBSP corn starch.

The soup base is boiling now. Add a bit of soup base to the bowl of marinating pork, stir to separate any clumped shreds, and add all the pork and marinade to the soup. Skim off any scum on the top. The pork will cook in a minute. Add the shredded mushrooms and tofu. Bring soup back to boil, then reduce to simmer. Add the cornstarch slurry, slowly while stirring away lumps. Skim off the top. Add the bowl of seasoning to the soup, stir.

Adjust taste. For more spiciness, add more vinegar and more minced ginger (1 tsp at a time). For still more spiciness, add some hot chili sauce (just 1/4 tsp at a time). Also salt and pepper to taste.

Turn off heat. Simmering stops. Stir the soup in a circular motion. While the soup is going 'round, drizzle in the beaten egg, a thin stream. The egg will solidify in thin strands, this is a sort of ''egg drop'' look. Serve.

I've never made a vegetarian version, but I suppose I'd try using vegetable broth. I'd also cut a 1/2 lb of tofu into 1/4'' matchsticks and marinate them in place of the pork.

You can use chicken breast instead of pork, it's just harder to cut nicely. You can use pork stock instead of chicken stock.

A bit of red color looks good in this soup, so you can add some matchsticked carrots or red bell peppers. For a bit more texture, some canned bamboo shoots, matchsticked.

All the slicing into matchsticks is not essential, of course. You could zap everything into sludge in the food processor, and make this soup without even touching a knife. But I think having everything in consistent thin sticks is part of the ''look'' of this soup.''

Here is a link that might be useful: Soup Thread

Teresa, if you don't like it, then you don't have to eat it or put it in your soup.

I don't consider tofu essential in hot and sour soup even though I like it and it is traditional. Don't worry about leaving it out.

Among the the other ingredients I think it is important to use a good amount of white pepper, approximately a teaspoonful for a batch. If you survey a number of recipes you will find it is white pepper that is traditionally used to give hot and soup its heat. This is different from the heat from chiles or hot sauce. I think the interaction between white pepper and vinegar is what gives this soup its characteristic flavor.

Dried daylily blossoms are another traditional element, although I don't know how essential they are. They are often labeled "golden needles" on packages sold in Chinese groceries. Daylily blossoms are also featured in mu shu pork. You can gather and dry your own when they are in season. Use wilted flowers from the common orange roadside daylilies, not the huge hybrids.

Jim

Thank you all for the tips, recipes, and permission to leave out the tofu - LOL! I really thought I would hear....."it's got to have tofu or it's not Hot & Sour Soup!"

It's not daylily season here right now, but I can live w/o those. I've made egg drop soup many times, but now I want to try Hot & Sour and Wonton soups. I do so with your blessings!

Teresa

I'd think that H&S soup would be great without tofu, I don't think it adds anything IMHO. If you aren't a vegetarian then why not add some diced up cooked chicken breast, YUM! What I like about HS soup is the taste of the broth anyway.

I agree, leave out the tofu. I've made it with shrimp, with chicken, with pork. I actually like tofu, to me it only tastes like whatever I put it into, but a lot of people don't care for it and some people I know avoid the soy products for various reasons.

Amanda loves hot and sour soup, Elery loves the stuff. Dad loved it too. Me, not so much, I don't like the "hot and sour" combo of flavors, but maybe I'd like the white pepper instead of the chili peppers.

Annie

"...maybe I'd like the white pepper instead of the chili peppers."

You might, Annie. My parents, who are not adventursome eaters, go regularly to a Chinese buffet and love the hot and sour soup. It was a surprise to me when I first heard it. I joke that my mom has not used up the tiny bottle of Tabasco she got as a newlywed.

Also, IIRC from a long time ago, the hotness of white pepper is perceived differently by different tasters. Some people are very sensitive to it. Others are not. Maybe someone can confirm or refute this.

Jim

I like white pepper, but do not find it hot at all. I always use black pepper which I have seen called for in Hot and Sour soup recipes. This is the first I've time I've seen white pepper used. I might have to try it before I add the black pepper just to see what it tastes like. Love Hot and Sour Soup.

I've never been able to get the egg to look right when I try swirling it into any soup.

Beverly, one source I read said to stir the soup in one direction only to get it swirling around in the pot, then slowly pour the soup into the vortex created by your stirring.
Teresa

Thanks Teresa. It may be because I have a tough time using my left hand. I'm an extremely right handed person. I'll be sure to make sure I do that the next time I try.

So those little white sticks in the hot and sour soup are tofu? I learn something new here every day.

I think the best substitute for tofu is scrambled eggs. Or you could do an egg drop. Egg cooked this way has a similar texture to tofu and about as much flavor. When I drop eggs into hot & sour soup, I beat them first with a bit of soy sauce and hot sauce, so that they don't cook too fast and have some flavor. I made this soup this morning, as it is a favorite brunch option for me. For the sour part, I use Chinese black vinegar, which I bought yesterday at Mitsuwa because I was out. I forgot to buy roasted green tea, however, and I am almost out of that. I did get a large container of toasted sesame oil, which is much cheaper at the Japanese market than anywhere else I shop. I use most of the sesame oil in making hummus, but I like to have it on hand for Japanese soup. Wakame is another necessity, but I had already stocked up on that.

Lars

Joanm, I wondered about those sticks a long time too. I finally decided they were bamboo shoots instead of tofu. Whatever they are I like them.

Beverly

I think the 'sticks' are the lily buds. I'd omit, too hard to find and I would need to be convinced that it adds significance.

Whenever I have to make some new ethnic recipes, I would use the English name of the recipe, go to Google Translate, using the translated name in the native language, and search for the recipes. Then Google Translate the native language recipes back to English.

This is one I got using the above method:

extracted from the hot and sour soup recipe �x�w Peimei Three Friends Books
Material:
a couple of lean pork
b tofu (two inches square) piece of
c half a chicken blood (optional)
d cup fungus (soaked)
e shoots a (cooked)
f one egg
g six cups of broth
h a teaspoon of salt
i two tablespoons soy sauce
j three tablespoons cornstarch
k a teaspoon of pepper
l two tablespoons of vinegar
m tbsp sesame oil

Practices:
1. Will be a cup with a five-Shui Zhushu. About 20 minutes. Leave to cool. Cut filaments. Tom retained
2. Bcde were cut into two inches long filaments.
3. The remaining broth into six cups of water at home. And then the pot boil. Down (2) of the prepared material. Then add soy sauce, seasonings h i salt. Boil water transfer into viscous starch corn starch. Transfected small fire
4. Slowly pour the egg wash and gently twist the next move. Then remove from heat
5. Bowl ready klm. And then entry into the soup. And into the north of the hot and sour soup flavor

dcarch

Just to mention, if you are avoiding tofu for flavour/texture reasons rather than trying to avoid soy, you might try dried tofu, called "dou gan" (bean dry). This is a compressed, drier form of tofu, usually with a brown skin, packaged in shrink-wrapped plastic, the blocks are small (3'' long maybe). It has a firm, dense texture, a slightly smoky taste, a bit different from standard tofu. It is easy to cut into matchsticks.

I need to revise what I said before about white pepper as essential to hot and sour soup.

Browsing through my favorite Chinese cook book, The Key to Chinese Cooking by Irene Kuo, I noticed that her recipe calls for 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of black pepper and some optional chile-pepper oil. While it is true that many recipes for this soup call for while pepper, apparently black pepper is OK too.

I do recall from somewhere that white pepper is preferred. Perhaps that is for eye appeal, which is the reason for using white pepper instead of black in light colored sauces. Anyway, hot and sour soup uses black or white pepper as its main source of hotness, which I think is unusual.

Jim

dcarch - Sounds to me like those three friends are drinking buddies, out on quite a tear. I hope Tom gets out of jail soon and that for the rest, six cups of water at home helps with the hangover.

Thanks for the laugh!

Dang! I love me some good hot and sour soup!

In desperation to get rid of this cold I've had since the first week in October, I finally made some hot and sour soup tonight - my own version, but man! is it good!

4 cups of chicken broth simmered with
3 slices fresh ginger
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed
3 TB soy sauce
dash of sriracha hot sauce
2-3 cups thin sliced fresh mushrooms
2 bok choy stems sliced thin - to resemble bamboo shoots ;o)

after a few minutes of simmering, add in
1 fresh, boneless/skinless chicken breast, cut in small cubes and drizzled in the bowl with 1 TB sesame oil
bring soup up to a boil, add chicken/oil and simmer 5 minutes

next, add the thinly sliced leaves of those two stems of bok choy and stir in well

mix 4 TB red wine vinegar and 2 TB cornstarch, then stir in and let soup cook for 3 minutes more until thickened.

Taste to see if you want more soy sauce, vinegar or sriracha. Then serve in bowls and garnish with 2 chopped green onions. Makes 4 servings, unless you are taking as medicine.

Take that you nasty cold!

Teresa