Yummy Chicken Hot and Sour Soup

It’s hard to believe that my yearly meal plans and cooking ideas had gotten executed with just the blink of an eye, where did the time fly? Coming out from the holiday mode, I’m back on my track focusing on my veggies and turning on to yoga a few extra times a week, how about you?

This month’s meal plan is something requested by many of you so I’ve chosen friendly and healthy recipes. These are comfortable and likeable foods my family enjoys! Autumn produce brings along a promise of substantial soups in colors that celebrates the changing leaves, my kitchen has been romancing soup these days. We have had autumn gold soup made from the flesh of chicken, beautifully fresh and fine carrot julienne and crunchy cabbage. When he wants a hearty bowl of mushroom and chicken soup in a hurry, this soup is my best friend! It’s a great way to sneak some veggies into those picky tummies while enjoying a warm bowl of soup. Hot and sour soup is a flexible version of Chinese soup, I have always slurp veg version of hot and sour soup in Mumbai consisting of chunks of garlic, ginger, bamboo shoots and of course chinese touch of vinegar and soya sauce, regularly sipping soups has practically become our dinner routine.

This incredibly fresh, healthy and savory based hot and sour soup was a win all around, I was expecting "eeew! Veggies" but he ate it right up and actually enjoyed it. I don't think I have ever been fully considered as one of those on a healthy diet as I'am eating desserts every day. Oh yes! it's one of those things I enjoy in life and don't want to give up, I would cut down to like one bite size dessert and I draw the line there, I feel happy that this soup is filled with so much of goodness that I feel okay with the dessert afterwards, Crazy!. Now do yourself a favor and make this yummy chicken soup to add up to your dinner rotation this week, don't you just want to dive into all that goodness?

Chicken Hot and Sour Soup

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 2-3 persons

Ingredients:

1 small chicken breast, boiled and shredded

1.5 cup chicken broth

1 small bowl carrot, peeled and julienne strips

1 small bowl cabbage, julienne strips

1/2 bowl capsicum, julienne

1/2 bowl chopped mushrooms

3-4 tablespoons cornflour dissolved in 1/2 cup of water

1 cup vinegar

1 cup soya sauce

1 tablespoon chopped green chilies

1 cup red chili powder

1 egg

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon cooking oil, for tempering

1 teaspoon chinese salt

Salt to taste

Directions:

• In a stock pot, pour in chicken broth and add in shredded chicken, bring it to boil on a medium flame and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, let’s make the two easy sauces that needs to be served with the hot and sour soup. For spicy based sauce, simply add 1 teaspoon red chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt to 1/2 cup white vinegar and mix well. 
• For vinegar based sauce, Add chopped green chilies and 1/2 teaspoon salt to 1/2 cup white vinegar and mix well. Set aside, You can refrigerate the sauces for later usage.
• Now add in fine julienne of carrots, cabbage, capsicum and chopped mushroom to chicken broth and cook for 1 minute on a medium flame. 
• Add 2 tablespoons soya sauce, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 1 teaspoon chinese salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and salt to taste. Mix well and simmer for another 1 minute.
• Dissolve cornflour in 1/2 cup of water without forming lumps, stir the cornflour paste to the soup and continue stirring until the soup mixture turns into a smooth and thick consistency (about 3-5 minutes). You can add more cornflour solution in order to achieve a better consistency (at this point you can thin the soup by adding a little more chicken broth if needed, I like mine fairly thick).
• Once the soup has transformed into the desired consistency, simply add the beaten egg into the mixture and always stir or move the ladle while you're slowly adding the beaten egg in order to create long strands of egg. Cook for 2-3 minutes and adjust the seasonings.
• In another nonstick pan, heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and immediately add it into the soup mixture so that you can re-heat and re-eat the soup the very next day.
• Garnish the top with shredded chicken and black pepper or with chopped green onions, serve warm with the two hot and sour sauces. Happy Winters!