Hot and sour soup

Serves 6

Chicken marinade:
2 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips (mine were really small so feel free to use one big one)
1 teaspoon tsao tsing wine
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 teaspoon sesame oil

3 Chinese dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, cut into strips
1 large piece wood ear fungus (Mok Ee or Mu Er), soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, cut into strips
3/4 cup boiled bamboo shoots, cut into strips (mine came pre-boiled but if they're not, boil them for 2-3 minutes)
2 slices ginger, cut into strips
2 large cloves of garlic, cut into strips
150 grams firm tofu, cut into strips

600 ml water

Soup seasoning:
1/3 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
3 teaspoon Chilli bean sauce or I used Singlong Super Chili Sauce (Don't use the sweet chili sauce that have the same consistency as tomato ketchup)
2 teaspoons chicken powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 springs of coriander, chopped
3 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar
1 teaspoon Chinese rice vinegar
1/3 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil

To thicken the soup:
7 teaspoons cornflour
25ml water

1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water


1.  Soak the shitake and wood ear mushrooms in hot water for 15 -20 minutes and squeeze out the water.

2. Marinade the chicken strips and leave in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

3. Cut the bamboo shoots, shitake, wood ear, ginger, garlic and tofu into strips.

4. In a saucepan, bring 600ml of water to a boil.

5. Prepare the soup seasoning by mixing ingredients all together in a small bowl.

6. Prepare the thickener by mixing the cornflour and water in another bowl.

7. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and water. Have all three bowls ready beside your stove.

8. In a wok on high heat, heat about 1 - 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the garlic and ginger. Add the chicken and let it brown a little. Add the shitake, woodear and bamboo strips and fry for about 1-2 minutes till it's fragrant.

9. Pour the boiling water to the wok.

10. Turn the heat down to medium and add the soup seasoning. Mix well.

11. Turn the heat up to high again and add the cornflour and water mixture. Stir quickly.

12. Once it's thickened, turn down to low and drizzle in the egg mixture. Do not move the soup and count to 20 before gently stirring.

13. Add in the tofu strips to heat them up. Serve into bowls.

* This recipe was adapted from Wantanmien on YouTube. She used pork instead of chicken but feel free to use pork too. I wouldn't use beef though. 

It may seem like a lot of ingredients and complicated but it's really not! All the ingredients are what a Chinese kitchen already has. All I did was buy some fresh chicken, bamboo shoots and tofu. The rest I already had in my cupboard, including the mushrooms and wood ear. 

The only time consuming work is the preparation, slicing of the ingredients. Doesn't take very long though! You can also make it ahead of time. But make sure you add in the tofu just before serving or they'll break up if you stir too much.