Chicken Hot and Sour Soup, restaurant style. The stock is made from scratch, and the flavour comes together with just a few basic ingredients. A good soup always begins with a strong base stock, and that adds a depth you can never get by using plain water. That’s the real difference between a soup made at home and at the restaurant.

If you’ve been following my blog, you already know I make soups and salads very often. It’s my comfort, go-to dinner at home for everyone. A warm bowl of soup with a simple salad just fixes dinner, especially on busy or lazy days or simply on most days. This hot and sour soup is one of those reliable recipes I keep coming back to, and it never disappoints.

From a health point of view, homemade hot and sour soup is nourishing and balanced. It has good protein from chicken, fibre from vegetables, and spices from pepper and that vinegar. Since it’s made at home, you control the oil, sauces, and seasoning, making it much lighter than restaurant versions.

Let’s Talk About Ingredients

Chicken
Boneless chicken breast is used here to make a clean, flavourful stock. You can also use thigh. The chicken is cooked first to build the stock and then shredded back into the soup, so nothing goes to waste.

Vegetables
Carrot, cabbage, and beans are common choices and work perfectly for this soup. They add crunch and freshness without dominating the chicken. You can add broccoli, peas, or mushrooms if you like, but always keep vegetables in lesser quantity since chicken is the star.

Sauces and Vinegar
Soya sauce, chilli sauce, and vinegar are what give this soup its identity. These need to be balanced carefully. Always add less first, taste, and then adjust. A small amount of sugar helps balance the sourness.

Egg and Thickener
Beaten egg gives that signature restaurant-style ribbon texture. Corn flour slurry is used to lightly thicken the soup. Do not overdo it, or the soup will lose its flowy consistency.

Video recipe:

Recipe Ingredients:

1. For the stock • 2 litres water • 1 carrot, sliced • 1/2 onion, chopped • 1 inch ginger, chopped • 4–5 garlic cloves, crushed • 300 g boneless chicken • 1/2 tsp salt • 1 tsp black pepper
2. For the soup • 1/2 tsp oil • 1 garlic clove, grated • 1 carrot, julienned • 1/4 cup cabbage, shredded • 1/4 cup beans, chopped • 1 tbsp spring onion whites • 1 tbsp soya sauce • 1/2 tsp chilli sauce • 1/2 tsp black pepper • 1 tsp sugar • 1/2 tsp vinegar • 1 egg, beaten • 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with water • Spring onion greens for garnish

Instructions with Photo Guide

Prepare the stock • Add water to a large pot

add sliced carrot and roughed chopped onions

chopped ginger

crushed garlic

chicken boneless prefereably breast piece

salt to taste

and pepper at last

Cover and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes

Strain the stock and keep aside

Shred the cooked chicken and reserve

Start the soup base • Heat oil in a pan or wok on high heat

Add grated garlic and sauté briefly until aromatic

Add carrot, cabbage,

beans, and spring onion whites

Stir fry on high heat for 1 minute, keeping vegetables crisp

Pour in the prepared chicken stock

Add soya sauce, dark one

chilli sauce,

pepper

and sugar

Mix well and boil on high heat for 2–3 minutes

Finish the soup • Add vinegar

and shredded chicken

Taste and adjust salt if required

break an egg into a bowl

beat the egg

Slowly pour beaten egg while stirring the soup in a circular motion

Do not overmix — allow egg strands to form

take corn flour powder or arrow root powder (i always use arrow root for soups)

mix it with water to make slurry

Add cornflour slurry

boil for 1 minute

Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot

Variations You Can Try

• Make it vegetarian by using vegetable stock and skipping chicken
• Add mushrooms for a deeper umami flavour
• Increase pepper for a more authentic restaurant-style taste
• Skip egg if you prefer a clear soup

FAQs

• Why is it called “hot and sour” soup? The “hot” comes from spices like white pepper or chilli, while the “sour” taste is from vinegar.
• What kind of vinegar should I use?  use whit4e vinegar or rice vinegar. I ve used rice vinegar in this recipe
• Can I make it vegetarian/vegan? yes, just omit the chicken and rest all done for the veg hot and sour soup. in that case, you can add babycorn/sweetcorn, mushrooms etc.
• What can I use instead of cornstarch? i prefer using arrow root powder instead of corn startch. you can also blend cooked rice and add it. basically its to thicken your soup. do not add more and it will not in soupy consistency then.
• Why does my soup taste bland? – most of us indians dont value the usage of stock in soups. Building a good stock base is essential for depper taste of the soup along with all the aromatics added
• Why is my soup too sour?  adding too much vinegar can make the soup taste sour and this can be neutralized by adding sugar and more stock/water.
• How do I get the “restaurant-style” texture? this can be achieved by the corn slurry and beaten eggs ribbon. Do not hurry up and mix after adding beaten eggs to the soup. gently swirl the soup while it creates long ribbons.
• Is hot and sour soup healthy? homemade versions are ofcourse healthy with lot of nutrients and protein built in.

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