EGG DROP SOUP

Egg drop soup is basically thickened chicken stock with ribbons of coagulated egg. Ideally, the egg is fully cooked but still tender. There are two schools of thought as to how to accomplish this. In one, the eggs are poured onto the surface of the simmering broth and allowed to set without stirring. The eggs are then broken up with a fork. The other method calls for whisking the eggs into the broth and then allowing them to set without further stirring.

When we laid the eggs on the surface of the soup and allowed them to set up without stirring, the egg remained in large blobs. Once the eggs were set, even vigorous stirring with a fork failed to break them up into small enough pieces.

Whisking in the eggs breaks them into small bits that set up into thinner ribbons. We found it best to add the eggs slowly and then let them cook for another 30 to 60 seconds, undisturbed, to ensure that they are fully set.

Although some sources suggest that the eggs alone will give egg drop soup its characteristic thick texture, we did not find this to be the case. Most recipes added cornstarch to give the soup some viscosity. The texture is important because the ribbons of egg will fall to the bottom of a bowl of thin, brothy soup. We found that two tablespoons of cornstarch (dissolved in two tablespoons of water) thickened two quarts of stock sufficiently to suspend the ribbons of egg.