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Egg Drop Soup
July 21st, 2009Recipes, 30-Minute Recipes, Recipes, Chinese Recipes, Recipes56 Comments
I used to dread egg drop soup (蛋花汤); I had countless bad, sticky, gooey egg drop soup made popular by American Chinese restaurants here in the US. When I was a poor and starving graduate student in the Midwest, I ate too much crappy Chinese buffets or lunch specials with endless supply of MSG-loaded egg drop soup. I was not a big fan of it.
But it all changed recently when I was in Shanghai, when I dined at Jesse, a famous local gem that serves exquisite Shanghainese fare. Their egg drop soup was superior with light and refreshing broth (no starch added!) saturated with the natural sweetness of clams. My co-worker and I slurped the big serving of egg drop soup dry; it was satisfying.
I have been making egg drop soup with clams since I came back. I try to replicate the taste and perfect the recipe, and I think I am getting there.
Try my egg drop soup recipe and say goodbye to the runny, tasteless, plain, boring egg drop soup you get from your Chinese joints. Say hello to a refreshing, comforting, and home-made egg drop soup that you will need to beat the summer heat. If you don’t like clams, you can add tofu and it works fine, too.
Enjoy!
(Click Page 2 for the Egg Drop Soup Recipe)
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Oh! I actually kind of like the sticky egg drop soup (or maybe it was just the last one I had in new york?). But I’ve no doubt this is definitely much more delicious and elegant! :)
Manggy – you must have a great one. The ones I had were always nasty and sticky thick with loads of MSG. I like my soup watery and savory and not gooey. Hehe.
ahhh, a simple meal that can be prepare~
as in the pic taken, its mouth watering!~
Taufulou – thanks for your comment, yes, this egg drop soup is awesome!
Very, very nice dish!
Thanks Nate.
Now this is my kind of egg drop soup! The clams surely gives it a brothy goodness!
Veron – Yep yep, not the boring sticky egg drop soup we get at Great Wall pr China King Chinese restaurants. LOL.
What a pretty egg drop soup! I’ve always been a big fan of egg drop soup, and the clams sound fantastic in it.
Clams make all the difference.
I love the looks of this…I’ve had clams on the brain lately so it would seem you’ve given me a fantastic excuse to cook some.
Right on, go get some and make this egg drop soup.
i do love a good egg drop soup. i mum makes it with spinach and meatballs. it’s well good! x
Spinach and meatballs sound great for egg drop soup! Yummy.
ooh, this looks great. must go buy some clams today. thanks!
Yes, great and easy egg drop soup. :)
Perfect. Gonna be eating this one. You know I have a love of clams, and this soup looks like a perfect showcase for them. Lovely photo too.
Matt, yes, I know you love clams. I am too. They taste so briny and sweet and perfect for soup. You should try this egg drop soup!
Hi Bee,
Thanks for this simple, easy to prepare soup. Eggs and clams are really good for me now. I will go get some clams and make it for tonight’s dinner
Valerie – awesome, let me know how you like your egg drop soup.
Hey Bee, made the soup – Love it! Although I think I will add a dash of soy sauce in my egg mix. I don’t like to salt my broth too much. hehe. Thanks again.
Awesome, glad you love it. :)
I want to have this just for the broth! :)
I have to give it to you, RM. Your obsession with seafood and shell fish has no boundaries. I had similar version but without the shell. I think the clams are smaller, too. Yours definitely look fresh and ready to savor.
Correct, the clams in the US are bigger. In China, they use a smaller clams but the theory is the same. The egg drop soup is great with clams.
Wow! your blog has wonderful recipes and perfect pics.
I’m totally with you on American Chinese restaurant eggdrop soup. Given the choice of MSG water with hocky pucks (wonton soup), salty wallpaper paste with sponges (egg drop soup) and hot and sour soup, I always opted for the hot and sour soup if for no other reason than the anti bacterial properties of the vinegar.
I could see how a soup like this would change anyones mind and erase all those bad experiences.
Marc – tell me about it. I wish Chinese restaurants in the US are like Japanese restaurants. I just don’t understand how they can make a great tasting cuisine into something totally unrecognizable and plain bad. The Chinese food in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Malaysia/Singapore are soooo great. Unbelievable!
Thank you Mythreyi, I hope you like it.
Oooh, I love egg drop soup. And the eggs look so fluffy in this soup. Amazing. I admit I don’t do it ‘right’ either. My eggs don’t look like this at all…..:(
I like my eggs fluffy and in a bigger piece.
I wonder if you could share a few tips on how to achieve that perfect fluffy egg in the soup? It looks so tempting :) Thanks.
Miakoda, just pour the eggs into the soup and circle around. That’s it.
This looks really yummy!!! I will try to make this soup one day.
Cool, do try it out.
the soup looks so delicious!
Thanks!
I do not like sticky egg drop soup (due to the cornflour added to thicken the soup) but I do enjoy the “silky, smooth” version. Usually, I will turn off the heat, then stir in the whisked egg and make sure the egg is just cooked and not overdone.
Tiga, thanks for your tips. I learn something new. :)
Yes, the corn starch is not good.
Thanks for the recipe. I also hate the ‘artificially’ thickened soups around here.
I’ve been following your blog for some time and like the challenge of trying to make it vegetarian. I would gladly eat your version but my wife is vege.
Hi Mr. Rebel – you can just put tofu or vegetables to replace the meat. Good luck.
Cut some old ginger into thin strips and add to the soup to boil for more flavorful veg taste. And/or soak tofu skins and cut into smaller pieces to add into the soup for something to eat instead of just drinking soup.
For variety you can put some tom yam paste (or cubes) to make tom yam egg drop soup.
Actually you also can add cabbages or any other type of veg suitable for soups. Improvise and experiment.
Peter;
We are talking about EGG drop soup, something clear, light and easy. It is perfectly OK to replace clams with tofu or more leaf vegetables as some people may not eat meat. When you change the soup base to Tom Yum, it is totally a different dish. What about curry or Chinese herbs?
Thanks for the recipe, this was great and extremely easy! (Definately going into my keepers. :) ) Thank you.
Yes, and much better than the typical sticky gooey egg drop soup. :)
blog hopped here from another blog. Your recipes and photos are making me hungry. But they all look easy enough for me to try one of these weekends. I have already bookmarked a few to try it out soon. THanks for sharing. :)
Hi Rasa Malaysia,
i am just wondering what kind of chicken broth you use… thats all. Thanks :)
I just use store-bought canned chicken broth.
If you have time, you can boil your own stock for hourse on whole chicken, scallions, rice wine, ginger and whatever vegetables you like. After simmering for several hours you can let the stock cool down, skim of excessive fat and remove chicken and vegetables. I sometimes make “ice cubes” of out of stock and store in freezer.
What can i replace with on the chinese rice wine and sesame oil? Can i exclude the both of this ingredients?
Hi Bee,
Had same type of soup with chicken instead of clams in Hong Kong. This was a completely different experience. MSG is very hard to avoid completely, but the best broth is definitely homemade. Sometimes I have to cheat by using Knorr haha as my work schedule is tight. But whenever there is time and leftover chicken parts, I cook broth. I cook mine with rice wine, chicken meat and bones, spring onions, ginger and various greens.
Good to see that you also use white pepper powder. It adds a excellent little “kick” to sauces and soups. I found sugar and white pepper to nearly do the same trick as MSG.
But as you mentioned MSG; have you tried anything named Mushroom seasoning or anything like that? It’s supposedly a thing they sell instead of MSG now. I received this tip from a chinese guy.
Love the broth, but I really like a soup loaded with a bunch of things so instead of getting clams, which can be pricey here, I just fill it with chinese veggies and tofu, plus extra eggs.
Just made this and it was absolutely amazing. First recipe I’ve tried from your site and I can’t wait to see what else I can try to make. :D
Wow, egg drop and crab rangoon sure brings back memory of chinese rest in Iowa.
Will surely try some of your recipes. Great to find this site. I am very weak in estimation when cooking is concern. Would be helpful if you can indicate how many persons each recipe is for :)
3-4 people