This vegetarian hot and sour soup is a meat-free version of a Chinese takeout favorite that also happens to be one of our most popular recipes on the blog!
You won’t miss the meat, as hot and sour soup already traditionally gets umami from vegetarian ingredients like dried shiitake mushrooms.
How to Make Hot & Sour Soup Vegetarian
This is a very easy soup recipe to adapt for a vegetarian diet. Even our original hot and sour soup recipe is already chock full of dried lily flower, wood ears, shiitake mushrooms, spiced tofu, firm tofu, and bamboo shoots.
In fact, in your average bowl of hot and sour, you’ll usually find very little meat! Besides leaving out the pork, the only other adjustment you need to make is using vegetable or mushroom stock instead of chicken stock.
You can also make this soup completely vegan by omitting the egg.
My grandparents owned a Chinese takeout restaurant, so we know our hot and sour. Hope you give this recipe a try!
Vegetarian Hot & Sour Soup: Recipe Instructions
In separate bowls, soak the dried lily flowers, wood ears, and dried shiitake mushrooms in 1 cup of hot water each for 1 hour, until hydrated. Reserve the shiitake mushroom soaking water.
Trim the tough ends off the lily flowers and cut them in half. Roughly chop the wood ears, and thinly slice the shiitake mushrooms.
Cut the spiced tofu into thin 2 inch-long slices. Cut the tofu into ¼ inch thick pieces, also about 2 inches long.
Add the stock and strained mushroom soaking water to a large soup pot, and bring to a boil. Add the salt, sugar, dried chili pepper (if using), white pepper, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and sesame oil.
Next, add the lily flowers, wood ears, shiitake mushrooms, and bamboo shoots.
Bring the soup to a simmer, and stir in the spiced tofu, firm tofu, and vinegar.
Combine the cornstarch with ¼ cup water to make a slurry. Ensure it’s well-combined, as the cornstarch tends to settle to the bottom of the bowl.
Bring the mixture to a simmer and use your soup ladle to stir the soup in a steady circular motion to make a whirlpool while slowly drizzling in the cornstarch slurry. This prevents the cornstarch from clumping. Simmer for another 30 seconds to thicken. (You can make/add more cornstarch slurry if you like your soup thicker, but don’t go overboard!)
Taste the soup and adjust seasonings to your preference. Add more white pepper if you like it spicier. You can also add more vinegar, soy sauce, or salt.
With the soup simmering/bubbling lightly, stir the soup in a circular motion once again. Slowly pour the beaten egg into the soup in a thin stream.
When the egg is cooked, add the scallions.
Ladle into bowls and serve!
Vegetarian Hot & Sour Soup
Ingredients
- 0.35 oz. dried lily flowers (rehydrated, ½ cup after rehydrating)
- 0.35 oz. dried wood ear mushrooms (½ cup after rehydrating & slicing)
- 0.7 oz. dried shiitake mushrooms (⅔ cup after rehydrating & slicing)
- 3 oz. spiced dry tofu
- 4 oz. fresh firm tofu
- 7 cups vegetable or mushroom stock
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1-2 dried red chili peppers (deseeded and chopped, optional)
- 1-2 teaspoons ground white pepper (or to taste)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons mushroom flavored dark soy sauce (or regular dark soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (or seasoned soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 5 oz. bamboo shoots (1 small can)
- 1/4-1/3 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch (mixed with 1/4 cup/60 ml water)
- 1 large egg (beaten)
- 1 scallion (chopped)
Instructions
- In separate bowls, soak the dried lily flowers, wood ears, and shiitake mushrooms in 1 cup of hot water each for 1 hour, until hydrated. Reserve the shiitake mushroom soaking water.
- Trim the tough ends off the lily flowers and cut them in half. Roughly chop the wood ears, and thinly slice the shiitake mushrooms. Cut the spiced tofu into thin 2 inch-long slices. Cut the tofu into ¼ inch thick pieces, also about 2 inches long.
- Add the stock and strained mushroom soaking water to a large soup pot, and bring to a boil. Add the salt, sugar, dried chili pepper (if using), white pepper, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and sesame oil.
- Next, add the lily flowers, wood ears, shiitake mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. Bring the soup to a simmer, and stir in the spiced tofu, firm tofu, and vinegar.
- Combine the cornstarch with ¼ cup water to make a slurry. Ensure it’s well-combined, as the cornstarch tends to settle to the bottom of the bowl.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer and use your soup ladle to stir the soup in a steady circular motion to make a whirlpool while slowly drizzling in the cornstarch slurry. This prevents the cornstarch from clumping. Simmer for another 30 seconds to thicken. (You can make/add more cornstarch slurry if you like your soup thicker, but don’t go overboard!)
- Taste the soup and adjust seasonings to your preference. Add more white pepper if you like it spicier. You can also add more vinegar, soy sauce, or salt.
- With the soup simmering/bubbling lightly, stir the soup in a circular motion once again. Slowly pour the beaten egg into the soup in a thin stream. When the egg is cooked, add the scallions, and serve!
Just made this and WOW! Came out perfectly and just like our local restaurants, but vegetarian version. I used fresh king, oyster and seafood mushrooms, vegetable broth, toasted sesame oil and a few crushed red pepper flakes, as that it what I had on hand. The directions are easy to follow and I doubled the recipe to fill my Dutch oven and lots of happy bellies!
So happy to hear that, Debbie! Thanks for the great review!
Fast and tasty. A pleasure to have on hand!
Thanks Nick!
This was really great!! I’m lucky to live in San Gabriel Valley and we have every kind of Asian market imaginable! I found fresh wood ear mushrooms at Ranch 99 Market and they were soooo delicious and inexpensive ($1?). This soup was definitely better than your average takeout, plus who has vegetarian Hour and Sour- NO ONE! But it did leave something to be desired, which is not the recipe’s fault. I was hoping it would be the twin sister to my very favorite ever Din Tai Fung. I can’t even think about it without salivating. But, again not this recipe’s fault since DTF version is not quite run of the mill hot and sour. However, this is an excellent recipe. I just need to work more…..double sesame? Max vinegar? Ah…. I bet a tbsp or two of that insanely
fabulous chili oil you have here! I bet that’s it! Can’t wait to try again! :)
Happy experimenting, Sara!
We made this recipe tonight and it was fantastic! We didn’t have whole dried red chili peppers. I used 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes instead, which was perfect for our palates — we don’t go for super spicy. Otherwise, we made the recipe as instructed. Very tasty soup, and pretty quick and easy to make. This recipe is a keeper!
So glad you enjoyed it, Matt! :)
WOW this hot and sour soup is so good and comes together quickly! Just the right amount of cornstarch. If you’re not a spice lover use only 1/2 tsp white pepper.
Thanks Kirk!
I am very excited to try this but I can’t find dry spiced tofu anywhere. Any recommendations for substitutions? Thank you!
Hi Dawn, you can just add more firm tofu!
Do you think i could swap fresh mushrooms for dried?
Yes, Molly.
Thanks!!! Will most definitely try this dish for my family.
Hope you all enjoy it, Janet!
Genuine recipe just like in restaurant .easy steps to follow
Thank you!
This was really good. First time making it and I went on the higher end with the heat so next time I will reduce the white pepper and dried red pepper to get a better balance but overall very happy as I love hot and sour soup! Very glad to have a version I cane make at home.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, Len!