Name: The Greatest Egg Drop Soup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 6 cups chicken stock; 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 1/2 tsp white pepper, ground; to taste kosher salt; 2 tbsp cornstarch; 3 tbsp cold water; 3 large eggs, beaten; 1 tsp toasted sesame oil; 3 scallions, sliced thin; 1/3 cup frozen peas or sweet corn

The Greatest Egg Drop Soup

Prep

Cook

10m

Total

15m

Bigly says

Listen to me. Egg drop soup. EGG DROP SOUP! The greatest egg drop soup. And I want to be very clear, very clear, because there is a LOT of confusion out there — most egg drop soup is NOT soup. It is HOT WATER WITH A SCRAMBLED EGG IN IT. That is the whole thing. You go to the sad buffet, they hand you a styrofoam cup of yellow liquid with what looks like a wet sponge floating in it, and they call it soup. It is not soup. It is a hostage situation in a cup. Embarrassing. Weak.

The best egg drop soup I ever had in my life was in the back of a gas station in New Mexico — true story — made by a guy named Ramón who, yes, also makes the tacos, the man is a multidisciplinary force of nature. He didn't speak. He just looked at me, nodded, and slid a paper bowl across the counter. The eggs were in ribbons. Long golden ribbons, waving like little flags in the broth. I ate it standing up. I cried. THIS recipe is almost as good as Ramón's — and I'd like to think Ramón would approve, although he would probably not say so out loud because, again, Ramón does not speak. Believe me.

The broth is the secret. GINGER. WHITE PEPPER. A tiny finishing hit of toasted sesame oil at the end, which is what separates the people who know what they are doing from the sad amateurs. And the eggs — you DRIZZLE them in a thin stream over the back of a fork, you do not DUMP them. Dumping gives you the wet sponge of shame. Ten minutes start to finish. TEN. Meanwhile the takeout sites want you to scroll past 18 popups and a cookie banner with 14 toggles before they'll even SHOW you a recipe — a crime, somebody should look into it, but not today, today we are cooking. Hands down. Not even close. A slaughter.

Ingredients

6 cupschicken stock(the better the stock the better the soup, it's just math)
1 tbspfresh ginger, grated
1 tbspsoy sauce
1/2 tspwhite pepper, ground(white, always white)
to tastekosher salt
2 tbspcornstarch
3 tbspcold water
3large eggs, beaten
1 tsptoasted sesame oil
3scallions, sliced thin
1/3 cupfrozen peas or sweet corn(optional, traditional places skip them, your call)

Steps

1
Combine chicken stock and grated ginger in a medium pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
2
Stir in soy sauce and white pepper. Taste and add salt as needed.
3
If using peas or corn, add now and simmer 1 minute.
4
Whisk cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl until completely smooth. Slowly stir the slurry into the simmering stock until the broth thickens slightly, about 30 seconds.
5
Reduce heat to low so the soup is barely moving. Hold a fork over the pot and slowly drizzle the beaten eggs through the tines in a thin stream while gently stirring the broth in one direction.
6
Let the eggs set for about 10 seconds, then turn off the heat. Do not stir aggressively or the ribbons will break apart.
7
Stir in the toasted sesame oil. Taste once more and adjust salt or pepper.
8
Ladle into bowls and top with sliced scallions. Serve immediately.

One more thing

This is the soup that proves you don't need 47 ingredients to make something incredible. Stock, ginger, eggs, a few tricks I just told you, ten minutes — and you've got a soup that the takeout places couldn't make if their lives depended on it. And their lives, in the soup sense, DO depend on it, and they are FAILING. Catastrophically. We win, they lose, that is how it works in soup. Now go eat.