This is a recipe for a relatively low carb Hot and Sour Soup that is made in one step in your Instant Pot or Pressure cooker. Do you have ANY idea how many carbs are in a restaurant-style hot and sour soup? 10 gms. In one little cup. And who drinks 1 cup of soup? Not me, that's who!
So I wanted to make it but of course, I want this to be as streamlined as possible while still being a low carb hot and sour soup recipe. There's one particular ingredient in there that gave me pause though, which was woodear fungus. Those are the black mushrooms that are in a typical hot and sour soup.
Traditionally they require soaking for 20 minutes to soften them. But surely if you're cooking this in a pressure cooker, you shouldn't have to do that should you? Wouldn't the pressure cooker take care of this for me?
I decided to find out. So I threw in dried, non-reconstituted mushrooms along with some pork and decided to give it a shot.
Guess what? It works. You do not have to pre-soak the dried mushrooms before cooking your soup!
Okay but let me tell you something before you start making this hot and sour soup. Which is that you should treat the recipe as a guideline, not as an absolute. By which I mean, you will need to adjust the hot, and the sour to suit your tastes. If you open it and think it's too mild, or bland, well, get your vinegar in one hand and your pepper in the other hand and start seasoning your hot and sour soup until it's the way you like it.
To no one's surprise, I definitely added a lot of pepper to mine 🙂 I hope you try this and like it. Full of protein, low carb, and full of taste, and pretty much one step.
Oh by the way, if you're looking for full liquids or soft soup, or you don't want pork and mushrooms in your soup, I have an older recipe, for a very simple hot and sour soup with eggs that you might like.
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Ingredients
- 5 cups (1.18 kg) low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 pound (453.59 g) pork tenderloin, thinly sliced
- 1 cup (96 g) Dried Woodear Mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) Soy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Chinese Black Vinegar, (Or use white vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) Rice Vinegar, (Or use white vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Xanthan Gum
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) Ground Black Pepper, (adjust to taste)
- 3 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) Water
After Soup is Cooked
- 1 pound (453.59 g) extra firm tofu
- 4 (4) eggs, beaten lightly
Instructions
- Pour all ingredients except tofu and eggs into the inner liner of your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
- Cook using the SOUP button for 10 mins or under high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Allow the pot to release pressure naturally for 15 minutes, and then release remaining pressure.
- Turn pot on Sauté to allow the soup to stay hot.
- Remove the now-huge woodear mushrooms, and slice them thinly, and put them back into the soup.
- Add diced tofu and stir. Slowly pour in the eggs. Mix three times around with chopsticks. Cover the pot and let the eggs cook slowly in the broth for a minute, and then serve.
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Patrice
Do I HAVE to use the xanthan gum or is that just for texture? I don't mind a thinner soup if this is not critical.
URVASHI PITRE
It’s just as a thickener so no don’t have to if you don’t mind the thinner consistency.
Shelley
Had this for lunch today and it was delicious! It was the perfect mix of tang and spice. Everyone went back for seconds and threatened to go back for thirds (but I wanted to freeze some so I distracted everyone with cookies instead).
URVASHI PITRE
I like your distraction techniques!
Rachel
Would this soup freeze well? Not sure how tofu, egg and mushroom would hold up in the freezer?
URVASHI PITRE
I think minus the tofu it would. Egg in broth does ok. The tofu disintegrated the last time I defrosted