You will be amazed by how easy it is to make this classic Chinese takeout dish at home!
This was my favorite soup to order as a kid & I just wish I knew how easy it was to make sooner!
The most important ingredient: a flavorful broth!
The broth is the MOST IMPORTANT ingredient for this recipe. It serves as the base of the soup and will entirely determine whether or not you have a tasty soup! Basically, if you use boxed chicken broth, your final product will taste meh.
Try to use the best tasting broth you have! There are many options to creating a tasty chicken broth, so I’ll list a few.
- You can use boxed chicken broth and add bouillon cubes to it. This will give it so much more extra flavor.
- Water + bouillon cubes – Knorr chicken bouillon cubes are one of my favorites and so tasty!
- Homemade chicken broth – this is what I recommend the most! I usually buy whole chickens from the grocery store since it’s the most economical and I get the most use out of it. I usually make broth with the bones by letting it simmer for at least 4 hours. Homemade chicken broth also has many minerals that are so good for you!
How to get the perfect egg ribbons
Whether you want small or large egg ribbons, I’ll tell you how it’s done!
Make sure your broth is boiling on high heat before adding the egg to the pot. If you want large ribbons, stir the soup at a medium speed while slowly adding the egg mixture. This will allow the egg to set into larger pieces. If you want smaller ribbons like I did, stir the soup quickly while adding the eggs so it breaks apart into small pieces.
Frying oil
I recommend using canola, vegetable, peanut or corn oil for frying since these have a high smoke point.
Temperature:
If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, I highly suggest purchasing one! It’s so useful in the kitchen and essential if you want to be precise and to ensure you follow a recipe correctly.
Heat the oil to 360° F when deep frying the wonton strips. Alternatively, you can test the oil by dropping a wonton strip. It should bubble immediately but not brown too quickly. Then, adjust the heat accordingly.
Watch my video tutorial below!
Egg Drop Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken broth (950 ml)
- 2 scallions, white and green parts separated
- 3 tbsp cornstarch + 3 tbsp water
- 3 eggs, whisked
- ⅛ to ¼ tsp white pepper
- salt to taste
- wonton wrappers, thinly sliced
- oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Heat the broth in a pot on medium heat and add the white parts of the scallions.
- Prepare the cornstarch slurry by mixing the water and starch with a utensil, then using your hands to ensure there are no clumps. Don’t skip this step! You need to feel the starch with your hands because utensils don’t mix all of the clumps, and you’ll be left with clumps of starch in your soup. Then add the white pepper depending on your taste.
- Make sure the pot of broth is not too hot (boiling is too hot – it should be at a medium heat or else the cornstarch will clump and cook too fast). Slowly add the cornstarch slurry while stirring. If you want an extra thick soup, you can add more starch.
- Increase the heat to high and let the soup boil. Slowly add the egg mix while stirring in a circle. Then, lower the heat and let the soup cook on a medium simmer for 15 minutes. This will allow the flavors to develop and leave you with a deeper, more flavorful broth.
- Heat frying oil in a pot. Shake up your wonton strips and add to the hot oil, then remove when golden brown.
- Distribute into bowls and season with salt if needed. Garnish with fried wonton strips and scallions & enjoy!
Notes
The broth is the most important ingredient! Use homemade for best results, or see my notes above for how to spruce up boxed chicken broth.
