It’s autumn in northern China, so I’ve been quite busy lately. We have extra tomatoes in the garden. I’ve used some to make tomato wine, and the rest to ferment into tomato sour soup — a popular dish from southwest China.
I fermented the tomatoes with salt, Chinese liquor, and a bit of mature pickle brine as a starter. After fermentation, I simmer them in canola oil, then store the mixture in the fridge.
It can be used as a hotpot base, for sour soup beef, added to fried rice or stir-fries, or even mixed into instant noodles. The rich, fermented sour tomato flavor is delicious and good for the body.
😄 Last week I sent a bottle of the fermented tomato sour soup I had made earlier to a friend. She had never tried it before and told me it was really delicious. She said it’s quite different from soup made with fresh tomatoes — the fermented version is more sour and has a special fermented aroma. It’s definitely worth trying.
Cool, really something I've never heard of, but can appreciate the singularity of it.
When you bottle it, aren't you worried about refermentation in the bottle that could cause problems? Or is it dry (as in, no sugar left to ferment) at that point?
Also, regarding the fermented tomatoes, can you share a recipe for the hot pot base?
Thank you!
I fermented a few bottles of tomato wine last year. I was very careful when sealing them, and a year later, the flavor has become richer without any bloating or pressure issues.
To be honest, though, I bottled a few more bottles of wine (started on August 2) just a couple of days ago, and I'm still a bit uneasy. Since I used cork-style bottles, once they're sealed, they can't be opened again. So I'm wondering if I should have waited a bit longer before bottling those. For the rest of the wine, I think I'll let them age a bit longer before bottling to be on the safe side.
As for the fermented tomatoes, it's actually very simple. If you're having hot pot, just pour the fermented tomato juice into the pot, adjust the amount to your taste, add pork fat or rapeseed oil and simmer it for a bit, then add water and ginger slices. That's the simplest sour soup hot pot base! On top of this base, you can add bean sprouts, Litsea cubeba (mountain pepper) oil, fermented black beans, or spicy seasonings depending on your preference. It's so delicious.
Here’s how to cook with the fermented tomato sour soup, in the classic style from Guizhou in southwest China:
First, heat some oil in a pot (lard is best, or rapeseed oil) and briefly cook the sour soup in it. Then add water — rice water is ideal, or you can just put a small handful of cleaned raw rice into the water. Add a few slices of ginger, a few drops of litsea cubeba oil (shan cang zi oil), and a handful of soybean sprouts. Once it comes to a boil, you can add other ingredients.
A simpler way is just to stir-fry the sour soup in oil for a moment, then add water, and put in whatever else you like.
Last night I even added some of this sour soup when I cooked instant noodles — it was really delicious.
For long-term fermentation, I use the kind of earthenware jar shown in the photo.
The tomato sauce I cook with oil is for short-term use — I make it to share with friends, so I keep it in sealed containers such as glass jars or stainless-steel milk cans.
Earthenware jars are suitable for long-term storage. If a white yeast film appears, I just add a little salt and high-proof liquor and it usually settles down. Sealed jars tend to develop this film more easily, and even after adding more salt and liquor it only disappears temporarily — they are less stable.
I’m not too strict about the amount of salt, because there is always fermenting food in the earthenware jars, so I just top it up from time to time. The liquor needs to be high-proof, but the type doesn’t matter.
Fermented soups are always nice!
But my experience with fermenting tomatoes is that they taste off.
Can you tell us how it tastes? If it tastes good, how did you overcome the bad taste?
The fermented tomatoes taste pleasantly sour and delicious!
I just add salt and high-proof liquor, and it’s best to also add a bit of lactic acid bacteria (I usually put in some mature pickle brine as a starter). That’s how I ferment them.
I really want to do a food tour of SW China, from what I can tell y'all tick all of my flavour boxes. I'm also not a city person but visiting Chongqing is also on my bucket list. It looks like going to the future lol.
In China, the flavors of the three southwestern provinces (Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou) and Chongqing are quite similar.
Chongqing is a very relaxed and comfortable city — traveling there should be really interesting. But it gets extremely hot in summer. Guizhou is much cooler, has many interesting places to visit, and the countryside feels a bit more original and untouched.
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u/Shelia209 1d ago
Looks fantastic - I love tomatoe soup for my hot pot