Winters are just round the corner and so is the season for hot soups. There is nothing more refreshing and warming than a bowl of piping hot soup of your choice. After Corn soup and Tomato soup another universally favourite soup in the list is the Hot and Sour Soup. This soup is of Chinese origin and is a unique blend of vegetable and spices that tickles the taste buds of the eater.
It is easy to make and does not need much preparation. You can make Hot and Sour Soup using almost any common vegetable that you normally have in your kitchen. Adding or omitting a vegetable that is mentioned in the recipe will not make any difference to the taste of the soup.
The given recipe is the Indian version of Chinese Hot and Sour Soup to suit the taste of the people. This is the recipe of Vegetable Hot and Sour Soup. You can change it to a non vegetarian recipe by adding boneless chicken pieces, pork and chicken stock according to your preference. To thicken the soup instead of corn flour you may add beaten egg.
This soup can be served as a one meal dish and you can serve it with hot garlic bread. It will certainly warm up a cold winter evening.
Ingredients For The Soup
Cauliflower- 20 grams
Cabbage- 20 grams
Capsicum-1 No.
French Beans-10-12 No.
Carrot -20 grams
Spring Onions- 1 No.
Grated Ginger- 1 tea spoon
Chopped Leeks (Spring Onion Shoots) – 2 table spoon
Vegetable Stock- 750 ml.
Tomato Ketchup-1 tea spoon
Vinegar- ½ tea spoon
Chilli Sauce- ½ tea spoon
Soy Sauce- 1 tea spoon
Black pepper powder- ½ tea spoon
Salt to taste
Ajinomoto- ½ tea spoon
Corn Flour- 1 table spoon
Oil- 30 ml.
Finely chopped fresh coriander to garnish.
Method To Make Hot And Sour Soup
1. Wash and finely chop all the vegetables and keep aside.
2. Make vegetable stock with 750 ml. water and vegetable peels and chunks. Strain and keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok. Add chopped onions, grated ginger and leeks and fry for a few seconds.
4. Add chopped vegetables and mix well. Add the stock and salt.
5. Bring to boil and lower the flame.
6. Dissolve corn flour in 2 table spoon of water and add to the soup for thickening.
7. Boil the soup for 2-3 minutes. Add tomato ketchup, chilli sauce, ajinomoto, black pepper powder and vinegar.
8. Remove from the heat. Pour in soup bowls, garnish with fresh coriander and chopped onion shoots. Serve hot.
Tip
This soup needs to be freshly prepared and served immediately to retain the freshness of vegetables and spices.
To serve it fresh you can prepare the stock and keep it separately. Saute the vegetables beforehand. Just before serving add the stock and seasoning to the vegetables and give it a boil.
You may add small pieces of tofu, baby corns or chopped mushrooms to the soup to increase the taste and nutritional quotient of the soup.
Photo Credit: Neelscorner.com
