Please welcome guest author Garrett McCord as he shares his favorite Chinese egg drop soup. ~Elise
In college one of the dishes I relied on was my own version of egg drop soup. It was simple, tasty, comforting and (most importantly) budget friendly. As I started to make it more and more I began to notice that friends started to drop by for dinner with increasing frequency. This was fine as all I had to do was add a bit more chicken stock and soy sauce and toss in another beaten egg. I could feed my guests cheaply and enjoy their company.
For years I ate what I thought had been faux egg drop soup cobbled together by a hungry student, however it was only recently I discovered that my recipe was actually quite accurate. With the addition of some cornstarch and the use of white pepper the soup is dead ringer for the one at your favorite Chinese-American restaurant.
Now that the spring rains have arrived I find myself making this again to confront the sound of the water striking the many surfaces outside. It’s a soup that, for me, evokes fond memories that seem to make the bad weather a little more tolerable. Plus, just like in college, whenever I make it company just suddenly happens to drop by for dinner.
Egg Drop Soup Recipe
Homemade chicken stock is the best for this. Also, if you can't locate any of the mushroom types indicated in the recipe, crimini (aka: baby bellas) will do just fine. Or, you can just leave them out all together.
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INGREDIENTS
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 cups of chicken stock*
- 1 tablespoon of corn starch
- 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce*
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper
- 3/4 cup of straw, enoki, or sliced shitaki mushrooms
*If cooking gluten-free, use gluten-free stock and gluten-free soy sauce.
METHOD
1 Reserve 1/2 cup of the stock and mix with the cornstarch until dissolved.
2 Place the chicken stock, ginger, soy sauce, green onions, mushrooms and white pepper in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch and stock mixture and stir. Reduce heat to a simmer.
3 Slowly pour in the beaten eggs while stirring the soup. The egg will spread out into ribbons. Turn off the heat and garnish with a few more chopped green onions. Serve immediately.