Directions

What are we cooking today?

1. This delicious vegetarian, spin on classic Chinese hot and sour soup will keep you warm in winter and satiated through lighter months.

Getting started

1. Clean and chop the mushrooms into bigger pieces or leave them whole if they are small.

2. (optional) Peel and dice the sweet potato.

3. In a pot filled with boiling salted water (about 1 1⁄2 cup per serving), add bay leaf, whole black pepper, ground cumin and allspice. Keep on medium heat.Note: If you want to avoid pieces of spices in your soup, place the bay leaf, allspice and black pepper into a tea sieve or a piece of cheesecloth tied with a string. You can remove this when the soup is cooked.

4. Add the mushrooms and sweet potato (if included) and boil for about 10 minutes until soft.

5. Spoon the thick sour cream (or coconut milk) in and mix well.

6. Add freshly chopped dill, white wine vinegar and season with salt to taste.

7. Crack each egg into a separate bowl. Pour one by one into a ladle and slowly drop them into the soup one at a time. Lower the heat and cook for about 3 minutes. Take from heat and leave to rest for an additional 5 minutes. Note: The right way to serve this soup is when the egg yolks are almost cooked but slightly soft in the centre. Try not to overcook them.

8. Enjoy hot!

Annabelle's tips

1. A little bit of chilli gives a new element to this flavoursome soup.
2. Feel free to play around with the mushrooms. There are so many varieties and you really can't go wrong in testing a variety. Even dry shiitake mushrooms add flavour and texture.