Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Egg Drop Soup



As Asian Week continues, today I present you with Egg Drop Soup. I have had it many times in my life, in many restaurants, and everyone seems to have their own take on it. Some are thin and sparse and some are packed full of veggies and chicken.

I took all the things I liked from the soups in my experience and omitted what I didn't like. (such as mushrooms). The stuff you have in restaurants that is the vibrant yellow color is due to Food Dye, this is what it looks like without the dye.

It isn't necessarily pretty, but it tastes damn good! Starting with home made stock really helps develop the flavor.

8 cups of homemade stock if you have it, otherwise use low sodium chicken broth
1 chicken breast (I used 4 tenders)
frozen peas, as much as you like
frozen corn, as much as you like
1 can of water chestnuts chopped
chives or green onions to garnish
2 eggs
2 tbl corn starch
1/2 tsp White pepper
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
2 tsp Low sodium Soy Sauce
Fresh Green Beans, a handful, ends removed and diced

Pan spray and salt and pepper your chicken; then bake it on a non stick pan for about 20 minutes at 350, remove to cool

In the meantime place your stock into a medium soup pot, and add your salt, pepper and ginger as well as the soy sauce

Add in your frozen vegetables, water chestnuts and your fresh green beans, let simmer, taste in 10 minutes or so and adjust the seasonings to your liking, adding more if necessary

Slice your chicken into thin medallions, place into your simmering soup

To thicken your soup, remove 1/8 of a cup of broth or so and place into a small bowl, add the corn starch and mix until well blended, then pour into your soup and continue stirring as it thickens. If you want a really thick soup, do this twice.

I read about the following trick regarding the best way to add the beaten egg to the soup, and it worked like a charm....

Beat your eggs well, stir stir stir the soup until it gets flowing around the pot, then quickly pour your beaten eggs thru the tines of a fork. I had to do it in 3 rounds to keep the soup moving so the eggs didn't get bunched together and look like scrambled eggs.

Serve with chives or green onions, I also add additional soy sauce

***My food reviewer indicated the soup was a bit on the thin side, so next time I shall add more of everything and thicken it a bit more**

21 comments:

Donna-FFW said...

UMMM< OK with you Cheryl, if I imitate this next month? This sounds freaking delicious.. I order this quite frequently at the chinese take out here.. NEVER made my own, what a lup.. I have got to do this one, got to.

Donna-FFW said...

Just a PS.. you can post this to Souper Sundays.. no rules really for that group, anytime you make a soup you can link it to her, and she'll post it with a link on sunday.. It looks so good, really, really, really.

Debbie said...

I absolutely love egg drop soup and always order when we have Chinese food. Never made my own. I will have to try this. I like it with lots of egg....

jesse said...

Awww, this makes me so nostalgic... Beautiful!

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

I love egg drop soup. I have to make this. Itlooks incredible Cheryl!

Pam said...

I love egg drop soup but have never made it before - looks great Cheryl!

Glad you liked the tart - it was a bit rich for me but the birthday boy loved it, especially with the mint crumbles.

Anonymous said...

mmm...egg drop soup...but to tell you the truth, I lived my whole life in Asia but never heard of it until I moved to America.

Lyndas recipe box said...

This looks delicious! I tried to make this years ago and gave up; maybe I'll should try again after seeing your success.

Elyse said...

I love that you've combined all of your favorie recipes to make this soup. It sounds absolutely delicious. I love egg drop soup, but I've never made it before. I think I shall have to give it a try.

The Blonde Duck said...

I've never had egg drop soup.

I'm so ashamed.

Christina Kim said...

Cheryl, I love your Asian dishes! Egg drop soup is one of my faves :)

Heather said...

i love egg drop soup! this sounds delicious!

MaryBeth said...

This is my favorite soup to get out...I have never seem it with green beans before, but it looks great!

Amy said...

That looks way better than the stuff you get in restaurants! Looks delish!

Paula said...

Oh, considering I have a bizarre love affair with eggs, it's no surprise that I'm a loyal fan of egg drop soup! Yours looks so delish, especially with those veggies! I would really enjoy the crunch of the water chestnuts, and I love green onions on mine. This is really an outstanding recipe! YUM!

Netts Nook said...

Cheryl This soup looks so good I can say I have never given it a try. Yours looks great thanks for sharing.

Jan said...

Looks absolutely souper to me, Cheryl. And it sounds easy to make, except for the tricky bit with the egg at the end.

NuKiwi said...

Looks tasty! I think tapioca starch/flour can be used to thicken the broth too... :o)

test it comm said...

I really like using eggs like this in soups!

Anonymous said...

i love soups.. thanks for the delish recipe!!

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