Thai Hot & Sour Soup

How timely that I noticed the theme for No Croutons Required a day after I tried my hand at making a Thai hot & sour soup. The theme for January is Thai cuisine! I have been wanting to replicate the hot & sour soup at Bahn Thai that I love so much. I've had a chance to eat there a few times recently (since I work down the street from the restaurant now) and always enjoy the soup, included in their lunch combo. I think I've figured out a good recipe, though it's still not exactly the same. I think theirs is sweeter and thicker, while mine has a lot more ingredients.



Thai Hot & Sour Soup
This soup is very easy. The challenging part was just tasting the broth and adjusting it to get the perfect sour, sweet and hot balance. Unlike Chinese hot & sour soup which uses vinegar, this Thai version uses tamarind and lime juice. I used a hard tofu so the tofu wouldn't break down but I think a softer tofu is typically used. If you want to thicken the soup, simply dilute a bit of cornstarch into a tablespoon of water and add the mixture at the end.

1.5 L vegetable broth (I threw in a piece of lemongrass when I made my vegetable broth)
piece of lemongrass (if you didn't flavour make your own broth)
1-2 tbsp sugar, or to taste
1-2 tbsp tamarind paste, or to taste
1-2 tbsp lime juice, or to taste
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1-2 tsp chili paste, or to taste
a handful of shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
a handful of enoki mushrooms
a handful of bamboo (purchased in a can)
small piece of tofu, sliced thinly
(other ingredients that would be great: baby corn, water chestnuts, snow peas)
egg, slightly beaten (optional)

Heat up the broth.
Add all of the ingredients into the broth.
Taste the broth and adjust with the tamarind paste, sugar, salt and chili to strike the perfect balance.
When you have the perfect broth and the ingredients are cooked, turn down the heat so the soup is not boiling.
Slowly pour in the beaten egg with one hand while stirring the soup with the other hand.
Tada!


Bamboo and mushrooms.


Shiitake and enoki mushrooms.


This soup would be perfect for someone with a cold!