Isn't it strange to think that we imagine that sometimes we can only get certain foods are restaurants. That somehow their access to groceries and kitchens isn't available to us. Hot and Sour Soup is one of those foods for me.
I love the stuff. When we go out for Chinese food, I eat a ton of it. I love the spicy and tangy broth and it has been the absolutely only way I have ever eaten tofu. But I got thinking, how strange it was, that a food that I loved so much, I had never thought of making at home.
You're right, this doesn't look anything like the little bowls you get at the restaurant, but I bet you 100$ that you think this one looks LOTS better. You do! Don't You?
I made this one afternoon while Joseph was working from home and so it was just the two of us and Charlie, everyone else was at school / work. So we had a sweet lunch date after we put Charlie down for a nap and we both took our lunch breaks.
I told him what I was making when he came into the kitchen and he said, "Really? You can make that at home", I said, "I'm going to try". When I put the bowl in front of him, he couldn't believe how gorgeous it was. Seriously?! You guys!! I made this!! --
and all it is... is chopped veggies and broth! Dig out some veggies from the bottom of your fridge and the back and your freezer and you are going to make this too.
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
4 green onions
6 cups vegetable broth
½ Tbsp soy sauce (or more to taste)
1.5-2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp chili garlic sauce or sambal olek
14 oz. block extra firm tofu
Assorted veggies to fill your bowl, I used zucchini and yellow squash from frozen, sliced mushrooms, carrots that I grated, snap peas that I cut into smaller pieces.
Instructions:
Start first by prepping your vegetables. You aren't going to "cook" any of them, so you need to make sure they are thinly sliced enough to cook in the hot broth.
Thinly slice the mushrooms, and the green onions (both the green and white ends of the onions).
Peel the carrots, then either slice them thinly, use a vegetable peeler to slice them into ribbons, or cut them into thin sticks, I grated mine with a grater.
To a large saucepan, add the canola oil, grated ginger, and the sliced white ends of the green onion to a large pot. Sauté the ginger and onion over medium heat until soft (1-2 minutes).
Add the vegetable broth to the pot, along with the soy sauce, vinegar, and chili garlic sauce.
The amount of soy sauce, vinegar, and chili garlic sauce needed may be subjective and will depend on how much salt your vegetable broth contains.
Start with a smaller amount of each, then add more to your taste. The final broth should be tangy and spicy. Heat the broth until almost boiling hot.
Drain the tofu, then cut it into small cubes (small enough to fit on a spoon). Add the tofu to the hot broth, and allow it to heat through ( a few minutes).
Either add the sliced vegetables to the soup pot and cook until softened, or divide the vegetables into individual bowls for serving, then spoon the hot broth over top.
Sprinkle the sliced green portion of the green onions over each bow.
More chili garlic sauce can also be added to each bowl if desired.
