If this is half as good as I'd get in a restaurant, I'll be happy to try it.

We love it, it comes out very nicely, and definitely meets up to restaurant take out.

I can't do tofu at all. It does horrible things to my internal workings (you don't wanna know). I've had to give up hot and sour soup for that reason. Also, the link want me to sign in to Patreon and I am not a member.

Honestly, you can play around with this recipe quite a bit. Leaving out the tofu would be just fine, it would just leave your soup a little less full. You could replace it with some fresh mushrooms (like cubed king oyster mushroom!) or even something like zucchini, but even just leaving it out would be fine.

Also, to watch the video on YouTube, click on the video itself, and it should take you to YouTube (or look for the link in the thumbnail that says "Watch On YouTube."

my favorite

That balance of spicy and sour is always a joy. And you can always spice it up, too!

The Hot and Sour that I'm used to has only slight differences, but are bordering on significant, at least to me. First, "our" version has nowhere near that much veg in it, and I believe that the version you would get in rest's that serve it around here would be a little hotter. I have lived in the SW corner of BC my entire life, and between Greater Vancouver and Victoria, there is a huge Asian population, making a cornucopia of ingredients available. Maybe the slight differences are a bit of a regional thing.

Because the people I most often cook for have the palates of toddlers, I have to scale back any heat to the point that there is a tiny bit of warmth to a dish, falling quite short of "heat." I usually put a vinegar and pepper sauce, like Frank's, for example, on the table so people can heat theirs up if they choose, and not add too much extra vinegar.

A variation I've tried a couple of times that was very well-received was using fresh lime juice as a large portion (not all) of the sour, and a bowl of chopped cilantro that one can add to their bowl or not. I have always put a "shine" and silkiness on the broth with a whitewash, but the variation in this recipe seems like a good one!

H&S Soup is a VERY nice addition to anyone's repertoire, I believe, and one I've been making off and on for 50 years. Thanks for giving it exposure!