Chinese · All year
Egg Drop Soup
Broth, ginger, and eggs poured into a slow stir so they set in threads. A light body from a little cornstarch. No oil.
15 minutes · Serves 6 · About 7 cups
“He gives food to every creature.”
Ingredients
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp ginger, grated
- ½ tsp fine salt, plus more to taste
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
- 3 eggs, beaten
- ⅛ tsp white pepper
- 2 scallions, sliced
Method
- 1
Bring the broth, ginger, and salt to a simmer. Stir the cornstarch and water and pour it in. Simmer 1 minute. The broth should look faintly silky, not thick.
- 2
Keep the pot at a bare simmer, not a boil. Stir in one direction and pour the eggs in a thin stream. Stop stirring. Count to ten. Then stir once, gently, so the eggs are threads.
- 3
Taste for salt. White pepper and scallions. A boil after the eggs go in breaks the threads into scraps.
From the kitchen
- Skip the cornstarch if you want a clear broth with eggs in it. That is also a true soup. The spoon of starch is only so the threads float instead of sinking into a thin liquid.
- The poaching broth from the white cut chicken is the right broth, skimmed.
My note
Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.
Alongside this
Chinese
White Cut Chicken
A whole chicken poached, not fried, then shocked in ice so the meat stays juicy. The ginger and scallion are woken with a little hot avocado oil, not a bowl of it, and not sesame oil.
1 hour
Chinese
Soy Sauce Chicken
Thighs and drumsticks simmered in soy, ginger, and honey, then rested in the pot. No fryer, and no oil.
50 minutes
Chinese
Honey Char Siu
Pork shoulder, roasted, with soy, honey, garlic, and five-spice. No red dye, no hoisin, and no seed oil. It will be browner than a shop window, and that is honest.
50 minutes, plus at least 4 hours of marinating