In my parents’ Chinese restaurant, we used to make three soups every day without fail, and it was always the first thing we would do when we opened the restaurant. Wonton soup, hot and sour soup, and egg drop soup––the classic trio offered on every Chinese menu.
Making these soups during the winter months would help warm up the kitchen as we started our day, and, oftentimes, I would have a small cup of wonton soup broth or egg drop soup to start the day.
Of the three classics, everyone has their favorite, and a nice cup of soup before your favorite Chinese lunch special is always a welcome starter. My personal favorite is classic wonton soup, but I do like a good egg drop soup! We also added the newly popular Chicken Corn Egg Drop Soup to the takeout menu, which is also another favorite of mine.
Note: This recipe was originally published in November 2015. We’ve taken new photos, re-tested and improved the recipe (reduced the amount of cornstarch slightly and added an extra 1/4 teaspoon salt), and added nutrition info and a recipe video!
The use of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was first described in China in the 4th century by Ge Hong when “yellow soup,” a fecal slurry, was administered for the treatment of severe food poisoning and diarrhea, a practice that continued for centuries.
What Is Egg Drop Soup?
The name “Egg Drop” comes from how the soup is made—dropping raw egg into hot soup. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.
But actually, the direct translation in Chinese is egg flower soup, because the egg creates large and small swirls in the soup in a flower-like pattern (scroll down to the recipe video below to see that in action).
There are many variations of egg drop soup, but this recipe is a classic restaurant-style egg drop soup that you can make at home.
Why Make Egg Drop At Home?
So the 300-pound gorilla in the room is why make it at home when you can buy a small order for a buck fifty?
Well, since this recipe only takes 15 minutes, it’s actually faster than ordering it and picking it up!
Also, monosodium glutamate is used liberally to make these soups in most restaurants. (Though some restaurants these days do limit their use of MSG.)
We don’t have a problem with MSG, but if you want to be sure to skip it, you’re safest bet is to make your own. Use homemade chicken broth, store-bought organic chicken broth, or even vegetable broth. You can also season your egg drop soup to taste and even use organic eggs!
This restaurant-style egg drop soup recipe is so quick and easy to make that you probably could have made a bowl for yourself in the time it took me to write this post! (Although I have to admit, I am a very slow typist.)
Hope you enjoy this one!
Yellow Soup, A Brief History of Eating Poo
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