Egg drop soup has to be one of the easiest dishes to make, so stop ordering it for takeout and just make your own. Perfect when you’ve got too many eggs leftover or on a cold winter night, because it’s so – say it with me, now- soothing to eat/drink. There are tons of variations to make it different, too, so it can be anything from just a snack, an appetizer, or a full meal.
Ingredients:
- eggs
- chicken broth/stock
- corn starch slurry
- salt & pepper, to taste
- optional mix-ins:
- cubed ham
- corn niblets (canned & drained or frozen works, but I think canned is sweeter usually)
- cut up chicken
- scallions
- noodles? though I’ve never tried this, I’m sure you could add some if you wanted
- wontons!!!
Since I was only using a small pot and making a few servings, I used two eggs.
Bring broth to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, beat eggs in a separate bowl.
Add slurry to broth. Allow to come to a boil again.
Add egg slowly, stirring to create ribbons/threads of cooked egg. If you like it chunkier- I like big chunks of egg- go faster, in spurts. If you like it thinner, stir more quickly and add more slowly.
Your finished product should look something like this:
only a tad thicker, because I forgot about the cornstarch step (I haven’t made this in years). Oh, and you can definitely make it with less or more egg. I used a lot, although I thought it was okay for my pot size.
Substitutions: you CAN use beef broth, but the one time I did, it came out really brown looking and pretty unappetizing looking. Tasted fine, a bit saltier than normal, and that’s it.
As for the mix-ins, I’d say add the ham right after the egg, just to heat it through (it should be COOKED ham, of course) and let some of the flavors mix. If you add ham, you don’t need as much salt or any at all. Frozen and canned corn you can just drop in and serve directly after; some people add the scallions from the beginning. And last but not least, for truly a takeout experience, the wontons you can cook separately and add them, because I’m not sure when you should add them to the soup otherwise. I’d say before the eggs, let them cook, and then add the eggs, but I KNOW that’s not how they do it in takeout.
***For the best wontons, you should buy frozen handmade ones at any Asian supermarket. NOT the super commercialized packages, but the more homemade looking ones, so good yum yum
ENJOY!!!
Faith says
do you let it cook for a minute afterword or just take it off the heat as soon as the egg is mixed in?
corinne says
I’m making this tonight!