Hot and sour chicken soup

Jen Bedloe

Former head of food, delicious.

Save

A nourishing Asian soup that’s just the tonic for a fast day, or to kick-start a healthy eating week.

Looking for something else? We have lots more recipes for 1 person for you to try.

Join Extradelicious to unlock Cook Mode

Ingredients

500ml fresh chicken or veg stock
Handful fresh coriander, leaves picked, stalks roughly chopped
1 fresh lime leaf, torn
3cm piece fresh ginger, sliced
1 red chilli, sliced
1 lemongrass stalk, outer leaves discarded, cut in half and bruised in a pestle and mortar
50g shiitake or chestnut mushrooms, sliced
95g cooked chicken breast, shredded with 2 forks into chunky strands
80g green beans, halved
2 tsp rice vinegar
Finely grated zest and juice 1 lime, plus wedges to serve
1 tsp fish sauce
Handful (about 10g) beansprouts, rinsed in cold water
Fresh Thai basil leaves (or regular basil) to garnish (optional)

Join Extradelicious to unlock Cook Mode

Put the stock, coriander stalks, lime leaf, ginger, half the chilli and the lemongrass in a small pan. Heat over a low-medium heat to infuse. Add the mushrooms, chicken and beans, turn up the heat, then bring to a simmer to warm the chicken.
Add the rice vinegar, lime zest and juice and fish sauce, then taste and adjust the saltiness/sourness to your palate. Serve in a big bowl, garnished with the coriander leaves, remaining chilli, beansprouts and fresh basil (if using), with lime wedges on the side.

To make vegetarian, swap the chicken with tofu, leave out the fish sauce and use vegetable stock. Add salt to taste.