Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup with Tofu (aka Canh Chua)- flavorful, warming and healing, this version is vegan and gluten-free!  For more brothy soups take a peek at these 20 Soul-warming Brothy Soups!
Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup with Tofu ( aka Canh Chua)- flavorful, warming and healing, this version is vegan and gluten-free! 
If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. 
~Meister Eckhart~
I love the clean flavors of this Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup called Canh Chua. Brothy, flavorful with a little heat, this vegan soup is rich and tangy, perfect for detoxing after all the holiday indulgences.  We first discovered this during our travels in Vietnam, and I’ve never forgotten it.

The nice thing about this recipe, besides being healthy and good for you – is that is quite easy and fast to make. And it’s a great soup to have if you are feeling under the weather.

Ingredients in Hot and Sour Soup

Fresh mushrooms, tofu, herbs and tomatoes make up the bulk of it – but the secret to its great flavor is the tamarind paste. Don’t worry if you don’t stock tamarind paste, lime juice is an easy substitute.
But if you are tempted to try tamarind paste, it’s easily found at Asian Markets and gives this soup a particular kind of sourness that I really enjoy.

What is Canh Chua?

I first tasted this Canh Chua Soup in Central Vietnam a few years back. It was a welcome and unexpected change from all the Pho we had been having. Canh chua is often made with seafood, especially in the Southern Delta area, but this simple vegetarian version is popular in Central and Northern areas.

Its clean, bright flavors feel very healing.

Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup Tamarind Soup with Tofu. Vegan GF | www.feastingathome.com
The recipe is easy, nothing tricky here.
Load it up with lots of chives and cilantro, and as many chili flakes as you can handle. If you are not a tofu person, substitute prawns or shrimp.
Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup Tamarind Soup with Tofu. Vegan GF | www.feastingathome.com #vegan #soup

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More recipes you may enjoy

I hope you enjoy this simple, vegan Vietnamese soup.  So delicious, healthy and authentic… I got this recipe from a restaurant in Hoi Ann!

xoxoxo

Sylvia

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Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup with Tofu ( aka Canh Chua)- flavorful, warming and healing, this version is vegan and gluten-free! 

Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 12 reviews

Description

Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup with Tofu ( aka Canh Chua)- flavorful, warming and healing, this version is vegan and gluten-free!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1/2 onion- diced (1 cup)
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
  • 34 cloves garlic chopped
  • 2 cups sliced mushrooms (shiitakes or cremini)
  • 4 Roma or vine-ripened tomatoes- diced into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
  • 1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
  • 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce ( if using veggie stock)
  • 8 oz firm tofu, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
  • 1 Tablespoon tamarind paste (or tamarind concentrate) or sub lime juice
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/4 cup chopped chives or scallions

Instructions

In a Medium pot, heat oil over medium high heat, add diced onions. Saute until tender, stirring often, about 4 – 5 minutes. Turn heat to medium, add garlic, and mushrooms.

Saute until mushrooms are just tender, about 3-4 more minutes. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper. Saute until tomatoes begin to melt, about 2-3 minutes.

Add stock and soy sauce (optional). Add tofu and tamarind paste ( or lime juice). Bring to a boil, and let simmer for 3-4 minutes. Taste for balance. Add salt to taste.

Serve in a bowls with chopped cilantro and chives and chili flakes.

Serves 2 for dinner or 4 as a starter.


Notes

Serves 2 for dinner or 4 as a starter.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 ½ cups
  • Calories: 176
  • Sugar: 6.3 g
  • Sodium: 367.2 mg
  • Fat: 9 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.2 g
  • Carbohydrates: 13.1 g
  • Fiber: 3.1 g
  • Protein: 12.9 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

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Comments

  1. I’ve been making this one for several years. It’s my go to when I have a cold or just want a light, brothy soup. I absolutely love it. Always add the chili pepper flakes! I press my tofu and then dice smaller than recipe says, I just prefer that texture a bit, otherwise I follow the recipe exactly!






  2. LOVE this recipe, thanks so much! I have a head cold so was looking for an easy, vegan broth soup to make and this hit the mark in every way! I added rice noodles to make it into a dinner, as well as some fresh ginger and a fresh chilli garnish for my cold, and some red bell peppers for extra veg. I also air fried some of the tofu for a different texture. It was perfect, I’ll be coming back to this again!






  3. Really easy to make and deliciously warming. We spiced it up with two kinds of mushrooms (chestnut and shimeji) plus a few dried shiitakes, the tofu plus a cup of prawns, some Korean chilli pepper for heat and lastly the juice of a lime at the end. Oh, and also another tablespoon of the tamarind paste. Absolutely delicious.






  4. Made this soup as the weather is getting colder. I did not have taramind paste so I used lime juice. I was hoping for a more tart/sour taste. Will either add more lime juice or buy some tamarind paste.
    MSO does not like tofu so I made it with shrimp instead. Good soup. Will make again in the future.






  5. I followed the recipe apart from the tamarind paste as I could not get hold of it, so I used the lime juice instead, which worked well for me. The flavours are amazing. It’s so fresh and light with not too much heat and just the right amount of sour. I love this recipe and will possibly try using prawn or shrimp next time, instead of tofu, not that there is anything wrong with the tofu!👍

  6. Delicious soup! I added a dash of fish sauce which I think really enhanced the flavor and used about 2-3 tablespoons of sour tamarind pulp, which I made from boiling the tamarind (after removing from pods) and straining. I also feel like it needed a little more sugar.






  7. I’ve used the base of this soup many times now, can I change up the vegetables a bit each time. I always add pineapple too! This is so delicious!






  8. Thank You Sylvia! This was good ( Ohh I said, That’s good, that’s really good! ) It was a bit difficult but I stopped after the first bowl and rushed the rest over to my son and his wife! No substitutions the balance was perfect. Used Organic Florida Crystals Raw Cane Sugar and Knorr LIquid Seasoning Original for the soy sauce. Next time I will try Maggi seasoning from Switzerland.

  9. Absolutely delicious and very easy, done it three or four times now in the las few weeks and about to do it again! Thanks for the recipe.






  10. Made this last night for dinner. A superb flavour combination, and great that it is so easily made vegetarian. Thanks so much for posting this.

  11. The photos really sell the soup! We just had a Vietnamese restaurant open up. I am looking forward to trying it. We are a small town. So it’s extra cool. And this soup sets me right up.Delicious

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