Egg Flower Soup
(also known as Egg Drop Soup)


This is called Egg Flower Soup because of the way the egg "blossoms" when you slowly pour it into the boiling water. It's a truly beautiful soup. The name given to it by American-Chinese restaurants "egg drop soup" is kind of a misnomer because the egg isn't dropped into the soup, but rather poured, slowly and carefully to create the "flowers."

You need:
6 cups of chicken broth*
1 tablespoon wine (rice wine, if you've got it, but any white wine works well.)
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 teaspoons cold water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/8 teaspoon salt (unless the broth already contains salt)
1/8 teaspoon white pepper

In a soup pot, bring the broth and wine to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. (Note: At this point, I sometimes add a handfull of julienned carrots, green onions, or even snow peas and cook for 30 - 40 seconds.)

Add the cornstarch disolved in water and cook until the soup thickens a bit. Turn off the heat.

Slowly pour in the egg and stir lightly with a chopstick in a circular motion to make the egg turn into long threads. Stir in the sesame oil, salt, and white pepper.

Serve as-is or with fried noodles.

* Note -- Chicken broth is a cinch to make. Why buy the stuff at the store with all the salt and preservatives made in a factory somewhere when you can make your own and have some control of the contents? Any time I serve chicken with bones in it, I save the bones, skin, and any leftovers to make broth. I keep a gallon-sized bag in the freezer, to which I add scraps until the bag is full. Once it's full, I just add enough water to fill the pot, bring it to a boil, and then simmer until the water has reduced by 1/4. I then store it in a jar in the fridge for up to 3 days, and use it to make soup. I can make broth while I'm using my kitchen to make dinner so it's really not inconvenient, and it tastes so much better!