It is completely an Indian taste bud pleaser with lots of garlic, ginger, and Chilli. This umami-tasting soup is served with crispy fried noodles which add a nice texture to it. Try this veg manchow soup at home with this easy-to-follow recipe with step-by-step photos and video. I get so nostalgic when I make Manchow Soup. It reminds me of all the times we would go out to eat in a Chinese stall in India on weekends and order bowls of this soup. The Chinese stall guy would give us unlimited fried noodles to top every bowl with. They taste so great!!! Manchow soup without crispy fried noodles is like a Khichdi without Curd and papad. This vegetable Chinese soup is one of those delicious and hot soups that is a crowd-pleaser and is loved by kids as well as adults. It is perfect to serve as an appetizer or with the main course. In our home, it’s a must-have soup during cold days or feeling under the weather. I have tried this soup a million times to get those Chinese stall-type tastes and now I can proudly say that this manchow soup recipe comes pretty darn close to the street style one.
About this recipe
Manchow Soup is a hot and spicy soup that falls into the category of Indian-Chinese cuisine. It is made by cooking very finely chopped vegetables in a delicious hot & spicy broth filled with Asian sauces like dark soy sauce, vinegar, and chili sauce. It is also loaded with aromatics like garlic, ginger, and green chilies. The soup is thickened using corn starch and garnished with fried noodles. This easy soup will get ready within minutes and the only major effort required is in chopping the vegetables. But, to make life easy, I always use a food processer or a chopper to cut the vegetables. Chopping gets over within a few minutes. The garnishing of fried noodles is my favorite thing in Manchow Soup. I have made manchow noodles at home but you can use store-bought too.
Ingredients required
Vegetable stock – For making this soup I have used store-bought low sodium vegetable stock. I highly recommend using it over the water. This gives good flavors to the soup. Since this is a thin soup, so all the flavors are coming from vegetable stock and sauces we are adding.Vegetables – I have used cabbage, celery, bell pepper, green beans, carrots, and spring onions. It adds flavor, texture, and taste. You can use any veggies of your choice and there is no set measure. Mushroom tastes great as well.Aromatics – Ginger, onions, garlic transfer this soup into delectable tasting soup. You will need loads and loads of garlic and ginger. Don’t skimp on them.Soy Sauce – This provides the unique umami flavor to this Chinese soup. Use dark soy sauce for the best result. I have used Ching’s brand soy sauce, which is easily available in Indian stores.Vinegar – Vinegar gives a little tang to the soup. I have used regular vinegar. You can use rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. You can adjust the quantity according to your taste.Sugar – To balance the sourness.Corn starch – I have added corn starch to thicken the soup as well as to coat the noodles. You can skip it for a thin like water consistency. You can also use arrowroot powder or tapioca flour instead of corn starch.Spice – Since we love spicy soup, I added green chili, ground pepper, and red chili sauce. So please adjust the spice measure as per your taste. You can ignore the green chili if needed.For fried noodles – To fry noodles, I have used boiled noodles, salt, and corn starch, coat the noodles, and then deep-fried them.Oil – You can use any oil in this recipe.
Step by step process
For fried noodles
Boil noodles according to the package instruction, drain the water, and let it cool down. We need 1 cup of boiled noodles for this recipe.In a big mixing bowl, add the boiled noodles, salt, and cornstarch, mix and coat the noodles well with the cornstarch.Set oil for frying. Once the oil is hot, add the noodles in a small batch and deep fry them on high heat until crisp and golden brown.Remove it on absorbent paper and crush them a little bit.Pro-tips – You can make them few days in advance and store them in an airtight container.
For soup Set a wok on high heat, add oil, garlic, ginger, green chili, and celery, sauté it for few seconds. Now add cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, and green beans. Saute for 30 seconds. Now add vegetable stock, salt, black pepper powder, soy sauce, red chili sauce, vinegar, and sugar. Mix everything well. Now bring it to a boil. It will take about 4 to 5 minutes on medium to high flame. In a separate small bowl, take cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water to make a cornstarch slurry. Mix both well. Now add the cornstarch slurry to the soup and cook the soup for 2 to 3 minutes or until it becomes thick. Pro-tip – you can adjust the quantity of the slurry depending on how thick you want your soup to be. Check for the seasoning and the spiciness as per your taste. Finish it by adding some freshly chopped cilantro leaves and spring onion. Switch off the flame. Your vegetable manchow soup is ready to be served, serve it immediately with some crispy fried noodles on top. Pro-tip – Add fried noodles only when you are ready to eat.
It is important to make sure that the veggies are the same size and chopped finely so that they cook evenly and easily.If you don’t have celery, you can use cilantro stems too.As we include ingredients high in sodium content, add salt as required or a little less. If needed, add later.Adjust the cornstarch slurry as per your consistency preference. If you want a thinner consistency, reduce the cornflour.You may add a protein like tofu or paneer to this soup.Always cook this soup on high flame.For the fried noodles, instead of deep-frying them at home, you can use store-bought noodles too.Make sure to add the fried noodles just before serving. If not, it will become soggy.Always make extra crispy noodles, they taste so great!!!
Do give this Indo-Chinese vegetarian soup recipe a try. It will surely win your heart.
More Indo-chinese recipes
Schezwan NoodlesIndo Chinese VermicelliHomemade Schezwan Sauce
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