Hot and sour soup

Over in the LTH thread, Jonathanc wrote:From other people's experience, who has the best hot and sour soup?

One of my favorites is Tsang, a tiny hole-in-the-wall in Lincolnwood. They have a few tables, but do mainly a carryout business, with bargain lunch and dinner combos. Their H&S soup has just the right blend of pepper and vinegar, with good texture, and it's chockfull of meat and vegetables.

Tsang Chinese Cuisine
3918 W. Touhy Ave., Lincolnwood
847/329-0035

When I lived in Lincoln Park, there was a Tsang that offered delivery and take out (is this a small "chain"?). The offerings on the menu seemed to be pretty Americanized IIRC. I'll have to give the Tsang in Lincolnwood a try based on your good H&S experience. How was the rest of the food?

There's a Tsang on Wells in Old Town. I haven't been there and I don't know if they're related.

By the standards of this group, I'd say the Tsang in L'wood is fairly Americanized in its offerings, but what they make is fresh and good, and very cheap. I'm fond of the empress chicken and the crispy duck. They do a good job with kung pao dishes as well. And they deliver to my office, which is a plus.

The "Tsang" on Wells has been long, long gone - hasn't been there for at least 3 perhaps 4 years.

To tie in with eatchicago's thread, I really like the vegetarian hot and sour soup at Phoenix Dumpling House. There's not much price difference between a small bowl and a big bowl, so I usually order the big bowl and take home leftovers for the next day's lunch.

There is also a Tsang on Clark in Andersonville. The menu looks similar to the one that was on Wells, but it is difficult to tell.

I have only ordered pickup once while walking past. The Tsang on Wells was also Americanized, but I liked their BBQ Pork Fried Rice.

pd

At least some of the Tsang restaurants are related.They use to have menus in The Reader.

Last night, on a trip up to shop at Woodland's market in Kenosha, we stopped for dinner at Big Bowl in Lincolnshire. I've written elsewhere about my pleasure in Big Bowl's revitalization, but having had the hot-and-sour soup again last night, I wanted to add a note about it to this thread. It's really become one my favorite examples of this soup: Rich pork broth, lots of black pepper, morsels of pork.

The hot and sour soup at Little Three Happiness is still the standard by which all hot and sour soup should be judged. Perfect consistency and flavor balance. I could eat a bucket of this stuff if it wasn't for the clams in black bean sauce.

Evan B. Druce wrote:The hot and sour soup at Little Three Happiness is still the standard by which all hot and sour soup should be judged. Perfect consistency and flavor balance. I could eat a bucket of this stuff if it wasn't for the clams in black bean sauce.

I love Hot & Sour soup, but LTH is not near being the best I've ever had. A little place in Windsor, Ontario called Shin Shin's is outstanding. Although, I haven't eaten there in 15 years.

My favorite place for Hot and Sour Soup is Sun Wah, it is intensely flavorfull, fresh tasting and just plain delicous!

Sun Wah Bar-B-Q Restaurant
1132-34 W. Argyle, Chicago
Tel: (773) 769-1254

Seeing this topic reminded me that I had not had a decent bowl of hot and sour for a long time. Actually from about the time I moved from Lincoln Square to the western burbs a few years back. In the old neighborhood last week, I went to my old Chinese stanby, Wah San, and enjoyed a great bowl of h&s. Assertive kick of sour, with a nice warmth to it and loaded with tofu, pork, veggies, etc. It was as good as I remembered and easily made up for all of the mediocre to bad renditions I've had. The House of Wah San is at 4315 N. Lincoln

I have tried the Hot and Sour Soup at many of these restaurants and they are all okay. However, it is hard to say who has the best one because no hot and sour soup at any Chinese restaurant is the same. They all have the same basic ingredients but are mixed in so many different proportions. Someone's favorite at one could be the hated by another. With that said I like Empire's Restaurants' Hot and Sour Soup the best. Personally, I like a darker hot and sour soup, with more mushrooms, and more on the spicy side than the sour.

The topic of best hot and sour could go on forever..

I used to get kickass H&S soup at a place on the north side of Cermak, slightly west of Wentworth, (the name eludes me right now) but just discovered they seem to be under new management. Where can I get some great H&S soup?

Hi,

There is an earlier thread on Hot and Soup, which should be a good beginning.

You may also want to search our website inquiring for: hot sour soup. Something to consult waiting for others to chime in.

Regards

Cogito wrote: but just discovered they seem to be under new management.

Have u tried the soup there? Just because they are under new management doesn't necessarily mean that they changed the recipe.

gp60004 wrote:Have u tried the soup there?

Yes. That's why I'm looking for a new place.

Boy, this is a tough one. There are so many different interpretations of the basic form, and fans all seem to have their own standards of measure. While some prefer a thin, light-bodied soup, others prefer one which is rich and full. And, while some prefer a soup with a strong, vinegary punch, others prefer one which is mellow and mild. Who am I to tell you what is good?

All that said, consistency is something which we all likely prize, and I have never known a place to churn out Hot & Sour soup with the same consistency as Hong Min. Unfortunately, the Cermak location of Hong Min burned down a few years ago, but there is another location in Palos Hills, and I've been known to make the drive just for this item. Rain or shine, winter or spring, Hong Min's version of Hot & Sour soup is reliably the same.

Hong Min
8048 W 111th St.
Palos Hills
708.599.8488

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For reasons unbeknownst to me, some of the various BBQ shops in town seem to make similar products, and ones which generally please me. Just like my benchmark favourite at Hong Min, they tend to be long on vinegar and long on white pepper, with a thin, light body. [And, hey, if they ever fall short in the vinegar or pepper dimension, these shops are all sure to have both ingredients available at table so that I may doctor my soup to suit.]

Sun Wah Bar-B-Q Restaurant
1132-34 W. Argyle
773.769.1254

Hon Kee BBQ
1064 W. Argyle
773.878.6650

Great Wall
2127 S. Archer
312.808.9686

BBQ King House
2148 S. Archer
312.326.1219

NB Wherever I go, I am always sure to ask for my soup to be made "w/o pork," as it fairly assures a fresh product.

E.M.

Eric -- any idea if Hong Min is ever going to reopen in Chinatown? That was a family favorite for over 15 years and were saddened when they closed. We had made the trip a few times to the Palos location but it was quite a hike and just didn't seem the same. We check the phone # once in a while but it was still the same recording telling you to check back.

Oh how that soup could help my sinuses!!

As opposed to Erik's request for no pork, the porkiness of the sample at Lee Wing Wah on Xmas Eve was one of its high notes.

Perhaps we need a hot-and-sour-athon? For me, there's a number of score points:
1) Hot -- good white pepper bite, but clean. Shouldn't be a strong chile flavor
2) Sour -- another clean bright flavor
3) Broth -- should be gelatinous from stock, not gluey from cornstarch, with a good meatiness to the flavor
4) Bits n pieces -- lots of variety in texture (tofu, mushrooms, pork, other bits n bits n bits)

LWW's wasn't stellar, but it was at least a solid 7.5 out of 10 for me. Pine Yard in Evanston was always my benchmark at about a 8.5-9, leaving room for the one that will floor me that I'm still searching for.

gls wrote:Eric -- any idea if Hong Min is ever going to reopen in Chinatown?

The Hong Min on Cermak has remained my favourite restaurant in this town even after being closed for several years now, and during my entire fifteen year Pro-Am dining career. Carrying on about it is likely to make me cry. Really.

I've heard so many rumours about Hong Min's "reopening" in the past few years that I don't know what to believe.

In any case, I no longer hold my breath.

E.M.

I just had a brain attack and remembered the name of the restaurant I was referring to in my first post. Jade East. But they've been gone for awhile.

Their soup had a thick flavorful broth with plenty of mushrooms & vegies. Just the right balance of spiciness and sour. Anyone remember this place?

>Erik M. wrote: I am always sure to ask for my soup to be made "w/o pork," as it fairly assures a fresh product.

Just curious, why? Doesn't it get better the longer it cooks?

R.

dodger wrote:>Erik M. wrote: I am always sure to ask for my soup to be made "w/o pork," as it fairly assures a fresh product.

Just curious, why? Doesn't it get better the longer it cooks?

R.

I think that you and JoelF misunderstand me. My reason for ordering hot & sour soup "w/o pork," is not about the quality/freshness of the pork per se, it's about the fact that ordering this way forces the kitchen to make me a fresh bowl. I know folks who take a similar tack at at places like McDonald's, etc. They order a fish sandwich "w/o tartar sauce," only because it guarantees them that they won't be served a sandwich which might be waiting on the line.

All of that said, I don't particularly care for the pork as it's prepared for the hot & sour soup at most places, so I don't feel like I am missing anything. I find that the meat is most often cheap, tough, and gristly. Like any number of world cuisines, there are certain dishes in the Chinese culinary repetoire which fairly require a cheap, tough, or lowly cut of meat. I do not believe that hot & sour soup is one of them, and even if it were, the net result certainly shouldn't appear cheap, tough, and gristly.

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Hot & sour soup is finished with powdered startch (corn etc.), and like anything else which is finished in that manner, it's meant to be consumed immediately. A whole host of Chinese restaurants serve their hot & sour soup from a big cauldron which has been sitting on the heat for long periods of time, getting rastier and rastier with each passing moment. I am not sure if it's standard practice at Moon Kitchen, but I was most certainly served an old batch of hot & sour soup on my most recent visit, and it was truly VILE.*

E.M.

* How can I be sure that my soup was old, you might ask? There is no other explanation for the fact that it was served impossibly hot (temperature-wise), and impossibly quickly. It was like lava, and it hit our table less than a minute after our waitress first passed through the kitchen door.

Erik M. wrote:My reason for ordering hot & sour soup "w/o pork," is not about the quality/freshness of the pork per se, it's about the fact that ordering this way forces the kitchen to make me a fresh bowl. I know folks who take a similar tack at at places like McDonald's, etc. They order a fish sandwich "w/o tartar sauce," only because it guarantees them that they won't be served a sandwich which might be waiting on the line.

Of course - like the Bahn Mi Zim style.
And similarly the downside is you get the soup without pork (which is fine - H&SSoup is very little about the pork - IMO)

I used to get kickass hot and sour soup at a place on the north side of 22nd St. just west of Wentworth (can't remember the name, but I think it had "Blue" in it), but they went out of business a few years ago and I haven't had anything close since then. Does anybody have a good recs?

Hot and Sour at Seven Treasures (2312 S. Wentworth Avenue) is asking for the soup in a dirty glass, and I mean that in the best, figurative sense (although the literal is not out of the realm of possibility). You get whatever meanest cuts of pork they have, gelatinous bone-stock soup, liberal egg shreds, and half a bag of frozen peas in every bowl. If that doesn't sound good to you, this is not your soup. If it does, mix in some chili oil and you'll be ready to take on a terra cotta army. Order with the 554 and a Hong Kong Milk Tea with pearl.

I find Spring World's excellently flavored but too watery; Lao Sze Chuan's is actually quite good, and the default is no pork. My gold standard was a place that no longer exists just west of Argonne National Laboratory on 83rd; it was exceptional since the broth had a body like tomato soup and a ton of pepper. Phoenix and Emperor's Choice were also both very good; I need to check those out again.

(Reading Erik's comments on Hong Min above make me cry. It really was a gem - best soups, best dim sum, ridiculous prices, awesome owner.)

Santander,

You should add Moon Palace to your quest for H&S soup. I haven't been in a while, but their version was the de facto standard for me in the past.

Moon Palace
216 West Cermak Road
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 225-4081

stevez wrote:Santander,

You should add Moon Palace to your quest for H&S soup. I haven't been in a while, but their version was the de facto standard for me in the past.

Moon Palace
216 West Cermak Road
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 225-4081

Good call - I haven't had H & S there in a while but do remember it being good. My standard order is the Shanghai cold noodles, green onion pancake, and the xiao long bao (set your expectations low for soup quantity and high for fresh pork flavor, good sauce, and slivered ginger accompaniment and you'll be fine).

RestaurantPlace.com wrote:I have tried the Hot and Sour Soup at many of these restaurants and they are all okay. However, it is hard to say who has the best one because no hot and sour soup at any Chinese restaurant is the same. They all have the same basic ingredients but are mixed in so many different proportions. Someone's favorite at one could be the hated by another. With that said I like Empire's Restaurants' Hot and Sour Soup the best. Personally, I like a darker hot and sour soup, with more mushrooms, and more on the spicy side than the sour.

The topic of best hot and sour could go on forever..

Ah, yes, this is the problem, isn't it? I fell in love with a very dark version - good balance of sour and spicy, but a slight lead to spicy, not thickened as some Americanized restaurants do, and with a perfect amount of pork and veggies.

I'd tried hot and sour soup a few times before trying this one and hadn't like it much. A friend had to convince me to order it at this restaurant. I later found out the this restaurant had three regular patrons that drove about 20 miles every week just to order bowls of this soup.

If I only knew the proportions of THAT soup!

Each time I went to that restaurant, I'd order the large bowl, no matter what else I was ordering; often I'd add an another bowl to take home with me. I can actually sense the taste of the soup as I type this.

To no avail, I've yet to find a version that comes close to this one. I've lived in Chicago for almost 9 years now and I've never come close. Many I won't continue to eat after the first few bites. In the last few years, I've stopped ordering it because I'm sure to be disappointed. But, spurred by this thread, I may order carryout at four or five of the places mentioned, bring them home, and have a soup tasting event.

Then again, maybe I'll try finding the the past owner and see if he would tell me the basic proportions he used and I'll try to make it myself. I have a feeling that might be easier .