Chinese Corn Egg Drop Soup

 

Chinese Corn Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients

• 1 can cream style corn; do not drain* (cream style corn is dairy free)
• 2 cups good broth** 1 can or half a large box of broth
• 1 to 2 eggs beaten in a bowl with a fork
• Salt, black pepper, & white pepper to taste

Optional

• 1/3 lb uncooked ground chicken my preference - see quick marinade below, or use any cooked chicken you have, like shredded rotisserie chicken.
• 2 teaspoons corn or tapioca starch***
• Sesame oil, scallions or cilantro for garnish

Instructions

• Note: In the photos here I had doubled this recipe to make a full pot, but added 2 cups of frozen corn instead of a second can of cream style corn.Pour broth and corn in a pot and heat it up over medium heat until it reaches a low simmer. If using a mix of frozen corn and canned corn like in these photos, I put the frozen corn in first and let it simmer longer before adding in the canned.

• Add in optional chicken. If you're using uncooked ground chicken, add it to the simmering soup and quickly try to break it up into small pieces using a spatula, as it cooks within the pot. It takes about 5 minutes for ground chicken to cook through while the pot is simmering. If you're adding chicken that's already cooked, it will only take a few minutes to heat up.

• Mix in optional starch slurry. Mix starch with a little cold water in a separate bowl until well dissolved. Stir this into the soup.

• Beat eggs with a fork. Then use the fork to gently stir the soup in a circular motion (not too rigorously) while slowly pouring the beaten eggs into the soup to create egg drop "ribbons."

• Season to taste with salt and pepper. I love lots of pepper on this and add more when serving! I also like to add a dash of optional fish sauce to this soup. Finish by garnishing with scallions or cilantro and a drizzle of sesame on top.

Optional ground chicken marinade

• If you're using uncooked ground chicken, do this step in the very beginning. I quickly marinade the ground chicken directly in the tray that it comes in. I do about 1 teaspoon light soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon oyster sauce, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, drizzle of sesame oil. Mix with a spoon and set aside until Step 3 above.

Notes

* Corn type: Traditionally, this soup uses cream style corn (dairy free) which contains a little added sugar, salt, and starch that give the soup a consistency I love. You can also use regular canned corn, or frozen corn which I like because it has no added salt or sugar. Sometimes I'll defrost a bag of frozen corn and blend it up very briefly in my smoothie blender to "cream" it up a bit. ** Broth: My favorite broth these days is Imagine brand low sodium chicken broth which has such a nice aroma, but you can use vegetarian or homemade broth.***Starch is a key thickening agent in Chinese soups (like corn, egg drop, hot & sour), so if you have some available, then I do recommend this step. If you are only using cream style canned corn here, then that already contains some starch in it (compared to regular canned corn or frozen corn which has no added starch). 

If you’re adding in uncooked ground chicken, marinate and stir it into the simmering soup, breaking it up quickly into small pieces. This ground meat cooking tool is perfect for this purpose, along with making taco filling or bolognese sauce!

Stirring in the optional starch slurry, and then adding the beaten egg at the end. I gently stir around the pot in circles (not too quickly!) while pouring in the beaten egg to create ribbons of egg “drop.” 

Serving suggestion: in Chinese culture soups are usually served alongside a meal and not as the main dish, but I’ve been making a quick meal out of this served with shortcut scallion pancakes! I usually double this recipe (it freezes well) and make several pancakes in advance, and just reheat the pancakes before eating with a quick pan sear.