Instant Pot Manchow Soup

Serving manchow soup with noodles and cilantro on top with a spoon on the side.

5 from 1 vote

A delicious combination of mixed vegetables and Asian sauces; a bowl of steaming hot Manchow Soup is perfect in every way.

This restaurant style soup is super easy to make in under 30 minutes using the Instant Pot.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Indo-Chinese

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 123kcal

Author: Smruti

Ingredients

¼ cup Carrots (diced)
¼ cup Green Beans (stringed and chopped)
¼ cup Red Pepper (diced)
¼ cup Green Onion (diced)
¾ cup Cabbage (shredded)
½ cup Mushrooms (diced)
1 inch Ginger (grated)
4-5 cloves Garlic (grated)
1-2 Green Chili (diced)
2 tablespoon Sesame Oil
1 teaspoon Salt
¾ teaspoon Pepper
3 cups Water
¼ teaspoon Red Chili Sauce
1 teaspoon Vinegar
2 teaspoon Soy sauce
2 teaspoon Corn Starch
¼ cup water

Instructions

Press the sauté button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add sesame oil. Let it heat for a few seconds.
2 tablespoon Sesame Oil
Add the aromatics.
1 inch Ginger , 4-5 cloves Garlic, 1-2 Green Chili
Sauté till the garlic sizzles and loses its raw flavor.
Add the red pepper and green onions. Sauté for a couple of minutes.
¼ cup Red Pepper, ¼ cup Green Onion
Tip in the chopped vegetables. Mix well and let them cook for a couple minutes.
¼ cup Carrots , ¼ cup Green Beans, ½ cup Mushrooms
Season with salt and pepper and add water. Stir it.
1 teaspoon Salt , ¾ teaspoon Pepper , 3 cups Water
Close the Instant Pot lid. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes with the pressure valve in sealing position.
Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes. Release the remaining pressure.
Set the mode to sauté and add the cabbage. Mix well.
¾ cup Cabbage
Once the soup starts to bubble, add the corn starch mixed with water.
2 teaspoon Corn Starch, ¼ cup water
Then add all the sauces.
¼ teaspoon Red Chili Sauce , 1 teaspoon Vinegar, 2 teaspoon Soy sauce
Let the soup thicken for a few minutes.
Serve topped with fried noodles, cilantro and green onions.

Video

Notes

Aromatics: The difference between vegetable soup and manchow soup are the aromatics. So do not skimp on the these at all; especially garlic. Adjust the green chili based on how spicy you like your soup.

Vegetables: Use firm fresh vegetables for best results. While any vegetable combination works, stay away from mushy vegetables. We want the vegetables to cook but not turn mushy. Tomatoes, squashes etc do not work too well. Brocolli, cauliflower, baby corn and peas can be added. Cut them all of even size so they cook at the same time.

Dark Soy Sauce: The easiest way to get the signature dark brown color in the recipe is by adding dark soy sauce. Light soy sauce will work but the soup will be lighter in color. Remember this sauce has a lot of salt, so add the rest of the salt with caution.

Adding protein: I have often had the recipe with some tofu pieces. However, paneer or other proteins will work too.

Making it gluten-free: The easiest way to make the recipe gluten-free is to replace soy sauce with gluten free version or simply with tamari. Other ingredients are naturally gluten-free.

Fried Noodles: This is the signature for Manchow soup. Deep fried hakka noodles add a lot of crunch to the recipe. However, I like to stick to these air fried noodles to top. To keep them crunchy, add just before serving.

Replacing corn starch: The corn starch slurry helps thicken the soup. Add more for a thick version and less for a thin version. Moreover, we can also replace corn starch with arrowroot powder or tapioca starch.
Instant Pot: Remember to always account for the time needed for the Instant Pot to come to pressure. The cook time listed does not account for this.

Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates using an automated calculator. These values do not include the calories of fried noodles. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.

Nutrition