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| Egg Drop Soup |
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
- 4 cups organic chicken stock or homemade chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Pinch of sugar
- Pinch white pepper
- 5 drops yellow food coloring (optional, but if you want "the look...")
- ¼ cup cornstarch mixed with ½ cup water
- 3 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a medium-sized soup pot. Stir in the sesame oil, salt, sugar, and white pepper. Add in 5 drops of yellow food coloring, if using. The yellow food coloring gives the soup that rich restaurant-style yellow color but it is, of course, optional. Taste the soup, and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Next add the cornstarch slurry; make sure the cornstarch and water is mixed well, as the cornstarch settles very quickly. Stir the soup continuously as you drizzle in the slurry, or you'll get unpleasant clumps of cooked starch in your soup.
- Use more or less starch if you like a thicker or thinner soup. You can also add the starch in a couple small batches, let the soup simmer for a couple of minutes, then check to see if the consistency is to your liking.
- Now we're ready for the most exciting part: the egg. This recipe calls for the egg to be slightly beaten, which results in both white and yellow egg swirls. The speed at which you stir the soup when adding the egg also determines whether you get large “egg flowers” or small egg flowers (i.e. swirly bits of egg). This is more a matter of personal preference than correctness. If you vary the speed at which you stir the soup, you'll get both. Some people even prefer chunks of egg in their soup, so do whatever suits your preferences!
- Once the soup's consistency is to your liking, use a ladle to stir the soup in a circular motion, and slowly drizzle in the egg until you have added it all.
- Ladle the soup in a bowl, top with scallion and cilantro, drizzle some sesame oil over the top, and serve!
