Mom's Hot & Sour Soup

This is the hot and sour soup you remember from a Chinese takeout container, made cleaner and fresher at home in half an hour. The hot comes from white pepper, red pepper flakes, and a splash of toasted sesame oil at the very end. The sour comes from two tablespoons of distilled white vinegar, which carries a sharper, cleaner acid bite than rice vinegar would.

Dicing the bean curd into small half-inch cubes matters. Larger pieces sink and overpower a spoonful; smaller cubes spread evenly through the bowl so every bite has that signature soft-pillowy texture.

The cornstarch slurry stirred in just before the egg is what gives this soup its characteristic silky thickness. Without it, the broth runs thin and the egg ribbons sink instead of suspending.

The egg is the showpiece. Slowly streaming a beaten egg into the simmering soup while stirring creates those wispy, lacy ribbons that float through every spoonful. Pour too fast or stop stirring and you get clumps instead.

Chef Tips

• Heat the broth to barely simmering, not boiling, before streaming in the egg. Boiling water shreds the egg into tough bits.
• Add the sesame oil off the heat. Cooking it destroys the toasted aroma that makes this soup distinctive.
• Use shredded pork from a leftover roast, or substitute beef as the recipe note suggests.
• Garnish each bowl with finely chopped scallion green for color and a fresh allium hit.

Variations

• Add ½ cup of dried wood ear or shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced thin, for the classic restaurant version.
• Stir in a teaspoon of chili oil along with the sesame oil for extra heat.
• Use vegetable broth and skip the pork for a fully vegetarian version.