Brown or Red Hot and Sour Soup

Red or Brown Hot and Sour Soup (suān là tāng)? That is the question.

Apparently the Hot and Sour Soup of my youth is in question. For anyone who’s ever frequented a Chinese Restaurant in the States you’re familiar with the pungently tasty brown based soup filled with tofu, pork, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms. Here in the UK I’ve found a similar type of concoction at most of the Chinese restaurants I’ve frequented. The main difference between what I’ve had here in the UK and what I’m used to at home is the amount of vinegar. Here in the UK they vinegar their H&S soup as they do their crisps* – with lots of it. So much so I’ve be tempted to rename it Sour and Hot soup.

However, I’ve recently stumbled upon the recessive younger sibling of the brown H&S soup – the Red H&S soup. I didn’t realise people were vehement in their opinions on the subject, but apparently they are.

As my co-worker AD told me – “Red H&S soup is the original.” AD informed me that in her formative, pre-consulting days she was a hostess in a Cantonese restaurant and there it was always red. “It’s chilli based so of course it’s meant to be red.” Unfortunately unless my palate has had a lobotomy, the last I checked chillies were spicy, in effect putting the “hot” in the H&S soup. However, after having tried the recessive red H&S soup, I was surprised by just how sweet it was. To be fair it was absolutely delicious (in a different reddish sort of way), just not “hot” at all. I finally got AD to agree that when she told me red H&S soup was the “original” what she really meant was that it’s the “original” to England. Seeing that it technically originated in China, her logic didn’t quite make sense, so I just proceeded to giggle in response. The fact is that whether it’s red or brown it’s most likely very different from what we might find in China. I’m sure our westernised palate has butchered its original intent.


I suppose I’ll leave you with some lasting thoughts of my own:

Brown = Hot and Sour soup
Red = Hot and Sweet soup
Both if made well = Tasty

*Crisps = Potato Chips