Cooking with Colm O'Gorman: How to make authentic hot and sour soup in 15 minutes

Comforting and warming this soup can easily be made to suit meat eaters or vegan guests with the addition of a few key ingredients

Colm O'Gorman's Hot and Sour Soup with Pork

The weather has been a bit more seasonal of late, by which I mean temperatures have dropped to single digits and we finally got some frost. I went out to the car one morning last week and had to search for my windscreen scraper for the first time this winter, something that usually happens much earlier in the season. Scarves, gloves, and a woolly hat were pulled out of the wardrobe. It may have arrived incredibly late, but winter is finally, properly here.

It is the season for stews, casseroles, and soups. Hearty meals are served in bowls that feed the body and the soul, that warm and nourish and comfort all at the same time. I love cold winter days where sky is blue, the sun is shining, and your breath freezes to fog as you exhale. There is little better than coming in from the cold on a day like that to a bowl of delicious hot food that has been prepared with a little love.

This week I will make a big pot of hot and sour soup for dinner. It is the perfect food for this time of year, a wonderful combination of flavours, with lots of peppery heat and a beautiful sour tang. 

This gorgeous Chinese soup can be adapted just a little to make it a main course, or you can of course have it as a starter or as a light lunch or supper. If you do want to want to serve it as a main course, just add a portion of ramen noodles and maybe a poached or peeled soft boiled egg to each bowl. This recipe will serve six people as a starter and will easily serve four as a main course with the addition of some noodles.

This soup would often traditionally include bamboo shoots. I am not a fan of those to be honest, so I skip them. Instead, I add some fresh green spinach, but you could also use some fresh corn cut away from the cob, or even some frozen peas if you fancy them, either would work.

You can make this dish vegetarian by leaving out the pork and using vegetable stock. Replace the minced pork with a boiled egg for a little more substance, and the tofu will give you enough protein for a good meal. For a fully vegan dish, you just drop the egg and use a little cornflour to thicken the soup.

Besides being delicious, this Hot and Sour Soup recipe has the added benefit of being very quick and easy to make. It is perfect for a last-minute meal.

Hot and sour soup

This gorgeous Chinese soup can be adapted just a little to make it a main course, or you can of course have it as a starter or as a light lunch or supper

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 15 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 2cm of fresh ginger

• 300g pork mince

• 6 spring onions

• 450g of firm tofu

• 200g chestnut mushrooms

• 1 litre chicken stock

• 3 tsp sugar

• 120ml rice wine vinegar, or white wine vinegar

• 3 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tsp ground black pepper

• 1 tbsp sriracha

• 100g of fresh spinach

• 3 eggs

• White pepper and toasted sesame oil to finish

Method

1. Heat a few tablespoons of toasted sesame oil in a large saucepan. Peel and grate the ginger and the garlic. A quick tip for you preparing fresh ginger, use a spoon to peel the fresh root. Simply grip a spoon by its head upside between your thumb and forefinger and use the head of the spoon to scrape away the skin. When I first saw Nigella Lawson do this a few years ago, it was a game-changer. It is quick and efficient, and only removes the skin, none of the flesh. Next, wash, trim and chop the spring onions, setting aside about a third for when you serve the dish.

2. Once the sesame oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium and add garlic and ginger. Sautee them for a minute or two, and then add the spring onion and the minced pork. Cook for about five minutes, stirring it occasionally to break up the minced pork a little. I like to leave some clumps of pork for texture and taste, so do not break it all up completely.

3. Cut the tofu into one-centimetre chunks. Slice the mushrooms, keep them a little thicker than normal, aim for about four slices per mushroom. Now add those, along with the vinegar, soy sauce, black pepper, sriracha, sugar. Bring the pot to a simmer for about five more minutes. Whisk the eggs in a bowl, and just before you are ready to serve, pour the egg into the soup and stir it through.

4. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Add more vinegar if you want to amp up the sourness and more sriracha if you want to increase the heat, just adjust it to your own taste.

5. Serve a big steaming bowl of this beautiful soup per person, finishing each bowl off with some of the remaining chopped spring onions, a sprinkle of white pepper and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil.