How to Make Veg Hot And Sour Soup

This Indo-Chinese hot-and-sour soup is a flavorful fusion dish that blends bold Asian spices with Indian flavors. Known for its perfect balance of heat and tang, it’s a comforting, aromatic soup packed with vegetables, sauces, and lively seasonings.

Vegan hot and sour soup

Indo-Chinese hot and sour soup is beloved for its bold, layered taste profile—spicy, tangy, slightly salty, and deeply savory. Its origins lie in the Indian adaptation of traditional Chinese soups, created in bustling street-food stalls where Chinese culinary techniques met Indian love of intense flavors.

This hot-and-sour soup is vegan and dairy-free. It's loaded with crunchy veggie bites and aromatic flavors. Vegetables like cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, capsicum, spring onions, and sometimes tofu add texture and freshness. The soup typically features ginger, garlic, green chilies, soy sauce, vinegar, and sometimes a touch of chili paste for heat. A hint of pepper and sesame oil enhances the aroma, while cornstarch gives it a silky, comforting consistency.

It tastes so good because every spoonful delivers balance—heat from chilies and pepper, tang from vinegar, umami from soy, crunch from veggies, and warmth from aromatic spices. This harmony of flavors and textures makes it one of the most satisfying and addictive soups in Indo-Chinese cuisine.

Ingredients needed for this soup

Aromatics: onion, spring onion, ginger, garlic, green chillies, black pepper crushed, salt to taste.

Vegetables - Cabbage, green beans, carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms

Optional add-in - tofu chunks for protein, sesame oil for extra flavor

Sauces - soy sauce (dark or light), white vinegar, red chili sauce, tomato ketchup (optional but balances spiciness)

Liquids and thickener- Vegetable stock (or water), cornstarch mixed with water (slurry)

Oil - Vegetable oil + sesame oil (optional)

Instructions:

Saute Aromatics:

Heat oil in a wok. Add chopped onions, ginger, garlic, and green onions. Sauté on high heat for 1 minute. Don't wait for them to soften.

Add vegetables:

Add veggies to the wok/ pan. Sauté for another 2-3 minutes on high, stirring occasionally. Don't overcook them to maintain the crispness of veggies.

Prepare broth:

Add vegetable stock or water. Add soy sauce, vinegar, chilli sauce, and ½ tsp sugar to adjust flavor, and then add salt to taste. Note: Soy sauce also contains some salt. Also, if you are adding tofu, add the chunks to the wok now.

Thicken the broth:

Let the water in the wok come to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes. Then add cornstarch slurry to it. Stir continuously. Let the soup simmer until it reaches the desired thickness.

Garnish:

Turn off the heat and add chopped green onions. Drizzle a few drops of sesame oil.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Soups

Cuisine Asian, Indian, Indo-Chinese

Servings 4 Servings

Equipment

• 1 wok
• 1 Spatula

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 tbsp Ginger finely minced/ chopped
• 1 tbsp Garlic Finely minced
• 1 small Onion sliced
• 4 - 5 tbsp Spring Onion Greens
• ½ cup Cabbage shredded
• ¼ cup Beans finely chopped
• ¼ cup Carrot shredded
• 4 Mushroom Sliced
• 1 tsp Salt or as per taste
• ½ tsp Black Pepper crushed / powder
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1½ tbsp White Vinegar
• 3 cups Broth vegetable stock/ water
• 4 tbsp Corn flour slurry

Extra add-in

• 2 - 3 tbsp tofu chunks chopped into small pieces
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

For garnish

• 3 - 4 tbsp green onions chopped

Instructions

 

• Heat oil in a pan. Add sliced onion, chopped garlic, ginger, and green chillies, green onions. Sauté for a minute on high flame.
• Then add chopped veggies. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add water and boil for 4 – 5 minutes till they are soft and tender. Don’t overcook vegetables.
• Add soy sauce, white vinegar, and vegetable stock or water. Add salt. and a pinch of sugar to balance the flavor. Add less salt as soy sauce has some salt in it.
• Let it simmer for 2 minutes. Add black pepper and salt.
• In a small bowl, mix the corn starch with 2 tbsp of water and stir well to make a slurry. Add this mixture to boiling soup to give it a thicker consistency.
• Season with black pepper and serve hot. Garnish with Spring onions.

Keyword Hot and sour soup, Vegan Soups

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