Egg Drop Soup For Dummies (And Everyone Else)

Don’t worry: You’re not the dummy.

Fall is here, and it’s merging right into winter without using a turn signal. I’m a big fan of this time of year for a lot of reasons–the leaves changing, warm fireplaces, snow, pumpkin spice lattes (THERE, I SAID IT), and using the all-wheel drive on my Subaru the way nature intended.

And? THE FOOD.

It’s soup and stew season!! And while I love a good, hearty slop that’s been bubbling in the crock pot all day, many times I’m looking for something more instant to warm my bones.

Enter: Homemade egg drop soup.

The first time I wanted to make this for myself, I did a thorough internet search for recipes. Most of what I found, however, either called for ingredients I didn’t have (I wasn’t interested in a trip to the grocery store) or too many ingredients (I tend to tune out after about six ingredients). So I took some bits and pieces from a few different recipes to come up with my own concoction.

I’m one hundred percent sure this isn’t “authentic” egg drop soup. But it’s an easy, five-minute, quick-and-dirty version of egg drop soup that I (and other mouths surveyed) absolutely love.

Interested? Here’s what you’ll need:

Equipment:

Small saucepan (the smallest you have! You’re only going to be boiling a cup of liquid.)
Whisk or fork
Measuring cup for liquids (make sure it has a pouring spout)

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken, vegetable, or beef stock (my personal preference is chicken, but they all do the trick)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 egg
hot sauce (OPTIONAL)
frozen vegetable of choice (OPTIONAL)

Getting it done:

Mix the broth and the sesame oil in the saucepan and bring to a boil. If you’re using hot sauce, add it here–I’ve found that a tablespoon gives a good heat to the soup, but use however much you want (or none at all!).

Go ahead and buy the bottle of sesame oil — treat yourself.
In the measuring cup, beat the egg well until the white and yolk are completely blended. If you don’t beat it enough, you’ll end up with big pieces of scrambled egg in your soup instead of a silky, uniform texture. (But if big pieces of egg are your thing, don’t let me stop you.)
Whisk it good.
Once the broth mixture has come to a boil, begin stirring the broth quickly and constantly. While you’re stirring, pour the egg in slowly, in a thin stream. Keep stirring! You’re probably going to get a bloop or two of egg white, but for the most part you should be able to have a very controlled pour. When you’re finished, the egg should be almost melt-in-your-mouth.

Droppin’ the egg!
That’s it! Once all of your egg is poured in, you can take it off the heat and dump it into a bowl. If you’re adding frozen veggies (I like to use a handful of frozen peas), chuck them in the bowl first and pour the soup over them. I’ve found this gives the veggies a texture I like and also brings the temperature of the soup down just enough to start shoveling it into my face immediately.

Soup, sans veggies.