I recently had a dear friend of mine request some homecooked with love recipes that were easily packable, great for on the go, nutrient rich with lots of digestive happy ingredients, and of course, satisfying in every which way. Before she even finished her thought, the words silky eggs, ginger, lemon, and soup popped into my head. Well, not exactly those words or in that particular order. But I love the idea of all these words. And if you know me even just a little, I have food brain. And I always have food on hand. Call it compulsive, addictive, unstable, whatever you wish. I call it smart. I am rarely tempted or feeling like I don’t have a choice between eating clean and choosing things that will not make me feel so great. So that simple conversation led to my new blog post. A delectable soup that is just about the easiest, quickest, nutrient dense, satiating, soothing, immune boosting recipe that you can find. I will just stop there and cut to the chase – the recipe and uick tutorial of how to get the perfect silky egg drop in your soup.
One thing I love most about this soup, other than the fact that it takes all of 15 minutes to make with about 2 minutes actual focus, is its versatility. You can use any spice or flavoring that suits your fancy. Feeling under the weather? Toss in extra ginger, clove, pinch of all spice. Need something cooling and refreshing? Add some cucumber slices at the end with some lemon and mint. You can eat it cold or hot. In a mason jar, mug, or good mannered soup bowl. You can slurp it or sip it or maybe even use a spoon if so inspired. Use whatever veggies you have on hand or in the garden. Add extra protein or tofu or rice noodles for some more substance. Crack another whole egg on top of a hot bowl and poach it for a little gourmet pizzaz. It’s literally the kitchen sink of all soups and the most appetizing kitchen sink at that. Most of all it’s simple. Ultimately, you really just need these few, maybe four ingredients – broth, eggs, veggies (of course), spices (recommended), and some starch flour – tapioca preferred.
(Eggs compliment of yogardenhawaii. Thank you lovely chickens.)
My guess is if you are actually reading this entire post before the recipe, you might be a little curious as to how to get that amazingly silky thread of egg the winds its way happily and enticingly through your fragrant bowl of hot soup. Well, I have a trick up my sleeve just for you. Tapioca flour. Simply whisking just a teaspoon of tapioca flour into your eggs before adding to the soup gives them that tender, soft, o so smooth, silky texture. Can you just imagine? That and not overcooking them, so read carefully. Once you have simmered your spices for about 10 minutes to give your broth the fragrance you desire, make sure the soup is at a very light simmer or even just removed from the heat works great too. You do not want a rumbling boil happening. This is when having multiple arms would be useful, but I know you can do it – in one hand take your tapioca / egg mixture with a fork placed at the edge of the bowl and start to drizzle the egg through the tongs of the fork.
As you slowly drizzle the egg through the tongs, your other hand will be using another fork to lightly swirl the egg through the broth.
Note: You can get overly excited at this point and swirl and whirl and twirl the egg vigorously through the pot so pumped that the term “egg drop” actually has a meaning now but STOP!
It is really easy to over stir. I have learned this time and time again. If anything, one little whirl of a fork in your soup pot and done. Give it about 1 minute to set and let the egg finish cooking. Don’t touch it. When in doubt, no stirring. Patience is very much a virtue at this moment in time.
30 more seconds… 20… 10… now you will notice delicate threads of egg come into motion. You can now be overly excited at this point and ready to stuff mouth. Enjoy.
homecookedwithlove
Yields 4 Servings
15 minCook Time
15 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 Quart Broth of choice (Bone Broth, Vegetable Broth, Fish Broth, Miso)
- Spices of Choice:
- My favorite pairing is 1 Star Anise, 1" freshly ground ginger, 1 juice of lemon
- 4 cups of raw vegetables (dark leafy greens, green onion, mushrooms, non starch vegetables like zucchini, daikon radish)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 3-4 fresh farm eggs
- 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon tapioca flour
Instructions
- In a sauce pot, bring 1 quart broth of choice to a boil, adding in spices like star anise, ginger, lemon juice, salt and pepper
- Once boiling, bring to simmer and let flavors merge for about 10 minutes
- While broth is simmering, in a separate small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and 1 teaspoon tapioca flour
- After 10 minutes, whisk in 1 tablespoon tapioca flour until fully dissolved to add body to the broth
- Remove star anise and make sure broth is just at a light simmer or simply remove from heat
- With one hand, hold egg and tapioca mixture with a fork at the edge. Gently drizzle egg mixture into broth very slowly
- With the other hand, give one gently stir with a fork to separate any large egg clumps. Leave alone.
- Let sit for one minute until egg finishes cooking through
- Serve hot or cold
- Garnish with remaining green onion, herbs, or a lemon wedge