10 Minute Homemade Egg Drop Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my egg drop soup not thickening? ›

Tips for Making Egg Drop Soup

Thicken Your Soup: The chicken stock mixed with corn starch thickens this soup right up. If it is runny you can add in more corn starch, flour, or other thickeners that you prefer.

This collagen in the bones is what is causing your soup to gel. It's completely natural, and it only happens in rich, well-made chicken stock. It can be a little freaky, though, if you're not expecting it! The good news is that this thick, gelled stock is extra-rich.

Egg drop soup is a popular takeout staple at Chinese restaurants made with wispy beaten eggs in chicken broth. It's normally seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper, thickened with a cornstarch slurry, and garnished with chopped green onions.

Do not use hot water. Hot water activates the corn starch and will result it slimy chunks of starch in your soup.

concentrating the liquid ingredients by evaporation. adding corn starch or potato starch or arrowroot. use a roux, made of liquid fat and some kind of flour. use gelatin, agar, or collagen (if the soup is consumed cool enough)

Turmeric or Yellow Food Coloring: Most restaurants use yellow food coloring or turmeric to make the Egg Drop Soup look more appetizing. I don't mind it without the color but if you prefer, you can use either. This is purely optional and based on your preference.

Store your leftover egg drop soup for up to four days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave.

Editor: That ham bone — or rather, what's still attached to that ham bone — is what's causing the thick layer that looks like Jell-O on top of your soup. As the soup cooks, any of the connective tissue still attached to the ham bone breaks down into gelatin — the same ingredient that gives Jell-O its wiggle.

For clear, brothy soups, stock is your most important ingredient. If you want to make a good soup, you need to use an excellently flavored stock — otherwise, the entire pot could be tasteless.

What not to do when making soup? ›

Perk up a Bland Soup With Simple Pantry Staples

Add a splash of vinegar (any kind!), or a squeeze of citrus. Chances are, you could use a little more salt. Go ahead—it's ok. Salt perks up flat flavors and helps balance out bitter-tasting ingredients.

Straws. Tape together several plastic straws around an egg to create a pointy house for the egg. The straw will absorb the force of the fall, keeping the egg safe. The bendiness of the plastic straws can also act like a car's suspension and absorb some impact!

Egg Drop Soup is a chicken broth based Chinese soup often thickened with cornstarch and seasoned with soy sauce, ginger, and green onions. A beaten egg is stirred in the hot soup and makes the soup thick with beautiful egg ribbons.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

Add an egg.

You can also thicken liquids with eggs, typical with avgolemono, a creamy lemon soup. Whisk eggs and then temper them by adding small amounts of the hot liquid until the egg mixture reaches the same temperature as the soup. Slowly whisk egg mixture into soup; do not let it boil, or it will curdle.

Sometimes soup just needs to simmer longer to reach the perfect consistency. Check to see if the vegetables are tender, and then taste the broth. If the soup tastes a bit watery, give it more time.

If your egg drop soup is coming out clumpy, it means the slurry was added too quickly. According to my dad, it's important to lower or turn off the heat completely and stir in the slurry a bit at a time so it slowly incorporates. This will give you a nice smooth soup!