Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

Since the crew over here has been sick, I decided to make a spicy soup to open up the senses…

So in this thought, I made the Hot and Sour Chinese Soup. I love this at the restaurant, but it seems like I usually like other things and then my soup goes to the last, in which I never get to enjoy it.

I have it cooking in my crock pot. I prefer it because I, Miss Lazy, don’t need to watch it, and then worry if I turned it off or not.

Hot and Sour Chinese Soup

I listed the ingredients in two parts, so make sure you read the whole recipe. So you don’t miss a thing

Ingredients:

1 tbsp of vinegar
1 tbsp of hot sauce
1 tbsp of pepper
2 tbsp of soy sauce
2 cans of chicken broth
4 cans of water (chicken broth cans)
1 to 2 chicken bouillons

>>These above ingredients make the broth for the soup.

>>The above spices make it hot and sour, I found that I had to tweak it to my taste so I about doubled it all. Be sure to taste

For the soup ingredients:
(of course you can use fresh, but I used quick and canned, I drained all the cans)

4 green onions (diced) separate leave some for a garnish when soup is finished
6 baby carrots (julienned)
1 tsp of diced garlic (I used just jar garlic)
1 can of bean sprouts
1 can of bamboo shoots
1 can of mushrooms (I used regular and then found in the Chinese section a different kind, added it for texture)
1 can of sliced water chestnuts (then I Juliana them)
1 small pkg of firm tofu (I slice in long mid-sized strips) (If this soup is going to be cooking Crockpot all day, I would save the tofu till the last hour)

>some recipes add the egg to their soups, all you do is scramble it and slowly stream into hot soup and slowly swirl it in. I do not do the egg, I found it to be enough with all the other stuff I have in it.

>some recipes also call for cornstarch, I guess to give it that silky taste...but again, I found not to need it.


You can garnish these of course with the rest of the green onions (for that lighter fare) There is a Chinese crunchy chip things to put in them (like cracker) I couldn’t find them. I researched what exactly they were and they were wontons cut in strips and fried… Hey works for me. If the afternoon flows easy, I will probably try them and I will post a picture if they work out.

I just wanted to share again a favorite of mine. This one I know has a lot of stuff, but hey it is quick. I also portion size mine and keep in fridge for a quick lunch or dinner.

I hope you enjoy checking out the blog.

My wishes for everyone for a very HAPPY VALENTINES DAY.