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!
This is really close to the recipe I’ve been using for years! I only use 1 tsp. of white pepper; for me, it takes over the soup if more is used. I also found shredded wood ear (black fungus) which I find makes the dish easier to make. I’ll need to look for spiced tofu next time I’m shopping.
Definitely feel free to adjust the recipe to your liking, Bill!
I had a hard time finding all of these ingredients, but once I did it was super easy to make. A little too spicy for me but otherwise great. I blogged my experience at https://nimbleveggies.wordpress.com/2022/03/05/hot-and-sour-soup/
Very nice!
I tried making this twice. The first time I did some substitutions – I accidentally tossed the mushroom soaking liquid instead of using it as broth, used rice vinegar instead of white vinegar, and used flour instead of cornstarch. I didn’t think those were crazy changes, but it didn’t hit the mark I was hoping for. But I had leftover mushrooms so I tried it a second time following the recipe to a T and it tasted amazing! Better than takeout for sure!
Thanks Scott! Yes, hot and sour soup is a very particular thing. Definitely best to follow the recipe, and then adjust from there to taste. :)
Simple and fast to prepare – and good to eat. This was perfect for a cold day. I recommend starting with 1 teaspoon of ground white pepper and tasting. I like sour and ended up using 1/3 c vinegar plus a couple tablespoons.
Nice! Glad you enjoyed it, Carol.
Awesome recipe,Sarah! I made this as part of our Lunar New Year dinner. The soup was very warming and a perfect start to our meal. My kids don’t like things too spicy so I only used 1tsp of the white pepper and 1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes instead of chilis. I added more black vinegar right before eating for that extra zing! I will definitely be making this soup again. Thank you!
You’re very welcome, Dee! Happy New Year!