Mushroom Hot and Sour Soup
I have always loved Hot and Sour soup. Since I stopped eating meat I don’t often order it. Most Hot and Sour soup is made with pork and uses chicken or beef stock. This recipe is vegetarian and if you leave off the egg (mostly for thickening) it is vegan. Since corn starch is used to give it some body it is also gluten free.
I decided to use the Instant Pot for this, but it could be done on the stove top. Just add some extra time. The first step is to add flavor to the veggie broth. Some of the ingredients may be hard to find at a typical grocery store. I recommend you find the closest Asian grocery. Everything is easily found there.
Since you are going to the Asian market anyway, get your mushrooms there too. I really like a variety. Portobello, shitake, oyster, enoki and king mushrooms would be good choices. Slice them all thinly.
The baked tofu can also be found at the Asian market but I usually buy it at Trader Joe.
Yield: 4-6 servings
Time: 2.5 hours, but it holds well
Ingredients:
4 cups veggie broth (store bought or homemade)
1 knob fresh ginger root (about 1 inch)
1 knob fresh turmeric root (about 1 inch)
½ lg onion, roughly chopped
6 clvs garlic, roughly chopped
6 Kefir lime leaves, whole
6 curry leaves, whole
2 dried Thai chiles, whole
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
3-4 oz baked tofu, thinly sliced into strips
1 tbsp rice vinegar (or more to taste )
2 tbsp soy sauce (or more to taste)
½ cup water
2 tbsp corn starch
1 egg
½ cup sliced green onions, including the green ends
½ cup Thai basil, chopped
Instructions:
Put the broth, ginger, turmeric, chiles, onions, garlic, curry leaves and lime leaves into the instant pot and seal with the pressure lid. Cook on high pressure for 1 hour. I used the soup function and adjusted the time. Allow it to open naturally. Use a spider or strainer remove all the chunks and leave only the broth.
Add the mushrooms, tofu, vinegar and soy sauce. This is the time to check the flavor of the broth. Adjust the vinegar and soy sauce if it needs a little more sour or salt. This is also a good time to adjust the heat. If it isn’t spicy enough add another Thai chile. ( Just be sure to fish it out before serving! It’s definitely not good eats!) Make the water and corn starch into a slurry and add to the soup. Give it a good stir then put the pressure lid back on. Cook again on high pressure for 30 minutes. If you have time let it open naturally, but you could also do a quick vent if you need to.
Beat the egg with a fork until it is an even color. Add the egg to the soup, stirring the soup briskly as you pour. This will keep the egg from clumping. It will have small fibers like egg drop soup and adds an unctuous mouth feel. The egg can be omitted if you prefer.
Add the green onions and Thai basil before serving. This soup holds well. I left it in the instant pot on warm for several hours with a standard lid (not the pressure lid). The mushrooms and tofu kept their texture. I also ate it left over for the next couple of days. It was just as good if not better.