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The best egg drop soup has clear, ever-so-slightly thickened broth with the intense flavor of chicken and a hint of sweet Chinese ham.
By
J. Kenji López-Alt
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J. Kenji López-Alt
Culinary Consultant
Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.
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Updated August 13, 2023
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In This Recipe
Making Egg Drop Soup Broth
Adding the Egg to Egg Drop Soup
Why It Works
- Starting with a good chicken broth then simmering with cured pork and aromatics creates a flavorful foundation for the soup.
- Beating the eggs with cornstarch before adding to the broth thickens them so they will be evenly distributed throughout the broth.
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For the longest time I really disliked egg drop soup, and it's because I'd only ever had it from the Chinese deli buffets where it'd been sitting out all day in a steam table, slowly reducing into a viscous, mucous-like neon-yellow glop with rubbery bits of overcooked egg floating in it, along with the occasional odd sliced raw mushroom.
The best egg drop soup, on the other hand, should have a clear, ever-so-slightly thickened broth with the intense flavor of chicken, supported by a hint of the sweet depth of Chinese ham. You should taste ginger or scallion from the broth itself, but their aroma should waft up along with the steam from the bowl. The eggs should form tender, silken curds, some large, some small, offering texture, sure, but predominantly flavor and richness to an otherwise extremely simple soup.
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So how do you get there?
Well, two simple steps.
Making Egg Drop Soup Broth
The brothis a simplified version of a Chinese superior stock, traditionally made with an old stewing hen, pork bones, sweet Chinese ham, and occasionally dried scallops along with a few aromatics. It's intensely savory due to the presence of a couple of key chemicals found in these foods. Glutamates are the compound responsible for the flavor we refer to as umami, and they're found in meat—particularly dried, cured meats like Chinese ham. Inosinate, on the other hand, is found predominantly in cured fish products, like anchovies or dried scallops, although cured meats do contain them as well, to a slightly lesser degree. These compounds work in conjunction with glutamates, amplifying their savory qualities by an order of magnitude.
Of course, nobody wants to simmer a big 'ol pot of chicken, pork, and scallops at home, but you can get a quick and easy workaround starting with plain old chicken broth (homemadeor low-sodium store-bought), fortifying it with some cured pork (a chunk of slab bacon works well if you can't find Chinese ham or sausage), along with some scallions, ginger, and white peppercorns. Just simmer 'em together for 30 minutes or so, and you're golden.
Adding the Egg to Egg Drop Soup
The egg flower, as it's referred to in Chinese, is really simple to do. The key is to swirl the soup in a lazy vortex while slowly drizzling in the eggs, which are scrambled with a bit of cornstarch.
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Unless you thicken it properly, the egg has a tendency to float to the top instead of being evenly dispersed throughout the broth. A small amount of cornstarch slurry whisked into it will thicken it to the right consistency and prevent the eggs from turning rubbery.
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The best way to drizzle in the egg is to hold either two chopsticks or a fork across the top of a small bowl and drizzle the egg slowly through the tines. It's essential that the soup be hot, but not boiling as you do this. You want the egg to set into relatively large curds that you can then break up to your desired size by stirring more or less vigorously after you drizzle it. If all goes well, you should have evenly dispersed, thin strands of egg that resemble flower petals.
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Add small handful of sliced scallion greens on top—okay, if you really want them, some mushrooms too—and the soup is ready to serve. It goes best with a free egg roll and a fortune cookie.
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April 2011
Recipe Details
Egg Drop Soup Recipe
Prep5 mins
Cook45 mins
Active10 mins
Total50 mins
Serves4 servings
Ingredients
1 quart homemade or store-boughtlow-sodium chicken broth
4 ounces Chinese ham, Chinese dried sausage, or slab bacon
6 scallions, greens thinly sliced, whites left whole
1-inch knob of ginger
1 teaspoon whole whitepeppercorns
Kosher salt
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 whole eggs
Directions
Combine stock, ham, scallion whites, ginger, and peppercorns in a small stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a bare simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Strain broth, discard solids, and season to taste with salt.
Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl and mix with a fork until hom*ogeneous. Whisk into broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low.
Whisk together eggs and remaining teaspoon cornstarch until hom*ogeneous. Transfer eggs to a small bowl and hold the tines of a fork or two chopsticks over the edge of it. Swirl the soup once with a large spoon, then slowly drizzle egg mixture into soup. Allow soup to sit for 15 seconds, then stir gently to break up the egg to desired size. Sprinkle with scallion greens and serve.
| Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 176 | Calories |
| 12g | Fat |
| 7g | Carbs |
| 12g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
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| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 4 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 176 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 12g | 15% |
| Saturated Fat 4g | 19% |
| Cholesterol 110mg | 37% |
| Sodium 501mg | 22% |
| Total Carbohydrate 7g | 2% |
| Dietary Fiber 0g | 1% |
| Total Sugars 1g | |
| Protein 12g | |
| Vitamin C 1mg | 6% |
| Calcium 34mg | 3% |
| Iron 1mg | 7% |
| Potassium 406mg | 9% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
