Hot & Sour Vegetable Soup with Tofu

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 4 green onions
• 1/4 red cabbage
• 3 carrots
• 8 oz. button mushrooms
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce, or more to taste
• 1.5-2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp chili garlic sauce or sambal olek
• 14 oz. block extra firm tofu

Directions

1. Slice the cabbage, mushrooms, and green onions very thinly, using both the white and green parts of the onions. Peel the carrots, then cut them however you like them best: thin rounds, long ribbons made with a vegetable peeler, or slim julienne strips.
2. Pour the canola oil into a large pot, then add the grated ginger and the sliced white parts of the green onions. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the aromatics have softened, about 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the vegetable broth, soy sauce, vinegar, and chili garlic sauce to the pot. Since broth varies quite a bit in saltiness, and heat and tang are personal, begin with the lower amount of each seasoning and adjust from there. You’re looking for a broth that tastes both spicy and pleasantly sharp. Warm it until very hot.
4. Drain the tofu and cut it into small cubes that will fit easily on a spoon. Stir the tofu into the hot broth and let it warm through for a few minutes.
5. Add the sliced vegetables to the pot and cook just until they soften, or portion the vegetables into serving bowls and ladle the hot broth over them. Finish each bowl with the sliced green tops of the green onions. Add more chili garlic sauce to individual bowls, if you’d like.