It was just another day of working from home when the thought of making egg drop soup crossed my mind. Those of you are familiar with Asian cuisine would know how simple it is. Since I had time the following day and a fridge full of nice and fresh ingredients, I decided to experiment. The outcome of that impromptu experiment turned out so well that I, someone with not a lot of appetite, finished the entire pot of soup in one go!
The point of sharing recipe in my blog is to encourage people to cook delicious dishes with readily available items and kitchen staples. This recipe is not only tasty but also healthy and rich in protien. Here’s the step by step recipe with kitchen staples:
Ingredients
Mushroom (sliced) – 5 small
Egg – 1
Tofu (chopped) – 2 tbsp
Soya sauce – 1 tsp
All-purpose flour
Corn flour
Spring onions (for garnishing)
Vegetable stock – 2tbsp
Szechwan sauce (Optional) – 1 tsp
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Method
Clean the mushrooms and slice them up nice and thin
Make small cubes of the tofu
In a small bowl beat the egg and add 2 tsp all-purpose flour, a pinch of salt and beat it all together to make sure no lumps remain
Heat 2tsp vegetable/rice bran oil in a pan/wok
Add the mushrooms and saute till they leave water
Then add the tofu, and some salt and saute them
Add 1 tsp soya sauce and mix well, then add 1tsp of szechwan sauce (optional)
Add the stock, and mix well
Then add 4-5 cups of water, add a little sugar and stir well.
Cover with a lid and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, stir occasionally.
Take off the lid, and stir the soup in one direction for about 1-2 minutes to create a vortex in the centre. Then through a sieve, add the egg mixture gradually, and continue stirring in the same direction again.
After a minute of adding the egg to the soup, add the cornflour and give it a nice stir.
Turn off the heat after a minute.
Add powdered/crushed black pepper and spring onions while serving.
And your yummiliscious mushroom tofu egg drop soup is ready! 😀
Things to note
I used tofu in the soup but if you don’t have it you may use paneer. The taste will vary slightly, but it won’t be a compromise to the taste of the soup.
Be careful while adding salt, since the sauces already contain salt. It is advisable to add the salt in small quantities at a time, taste to check if you need to add more.
I chose to add flour to the egg to make the egg drop, if you want you may skip that part and just add the salted beaten egg.
The use of szechwan sauce is completely optional; it adds that beautiful red colour to the soup. In case you don’t have it, just add some red chilli flakes, chopped garlic and ginger instead just before adding the soya sauce.
Using vegetable stock is optional as well. The soup will taste awesome even if you don’t add the stock.
The cornflour only thickens the soup, it does not add any flavour. If you are out of cornflour, just use regular all-purpose flour instead.
And that's how it's done! 