Corn Egg Drop Soup

Corn Egg Drop Soup

I really like the different soups served in Chinese restaurants. I love hot and sour soup, wonton soup, egg flower soup, and corn egg drop soup. The only problem is that most restaurants over salt their broth base so much that it renders their soups almost inedible – even if you’re not following a low sodium diet. So I’ve taken to making my own versions. Easy, just as tasty, and low in sodium.
I’ve been following the recipe from the Kitchn website for the egg drop soups. Its recipe is based on a recipe from Serious Eats. You can make the soup a little different each time, depending on what you have on hand or what you’ve got a hankering for. It can be as simple or as complex as you want. The Kitchn recipe uses a hint from Serious Eats, adding a bit of cornstarch in the eggs to keep them from getting rubbery.

To make corn egg drop soup, I add at least 1 cup of NSA corn, either frozen or canned, to the basic egg drop soup recipe. If I’m in a particularly lazy mood, I’ll leave the corn kernels whole. But if I’m more ambitious, I will puree ½ cup in my mini food processor. The pureed corn adds an extra layer of corniness and sweetness that I find comforting and soothing.
The flavoring agents I always use are ginger, white pepper, low sodium soy sauce, and green onions. I also like to include small cubes of tofu, and sometimes a handful of frozen peas and carrots. For a heartier soup, I may add some finely chopped leftover cooked chicken.
The corn egg drop soup makes a great appetizer/starter to a meal or a light lunch or dinner all by itself. It reheats well too. Just heat it gently, and don’t boil it. I always add fresh green onion slivers to leftovers.

Corn Egg Drop Soup with Brown Rice & Baked Tofu

Corn Egg Drop Soup
Adapted from Kitchn
(Printable Recipe)
Soup Ingredients:

4 cups (32 ounces) NSA chicken stock/broth

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 large eggs

1-3 tsp low sodium soy sauce (I use Chinatown)

1 - 1 ¼ cup NSA corn, frozen and cooked or canned

Flavoring Extras: (use one or all)

Ginger: ½ -1 tsp fresh grated  or ¼ - ½ tsp dry ground, etc. (I use 1 cube Dorot ginger)

Ground white pepper (just a few pinches)

5 Spice Powder (just a few pinches)

Toasted sesame oil (just a few drops)

Hot chili oil (just a few drops)

½ cup frozen peas and carrots

Soup Extras: (use one or all)

½  block (7 to 8 ounces) extra-firm tofu, cut into bite-sized pieces

8 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 bunch baby bok choy, thinly sliced

4 green onions/scallions, thinly sliced

Water chestnuts, sliced

Chicken, cooked and finely chopped or shredded

Toppings:

Thinly sliced green onions/scallions

Toasted sesame oil

Hot chili oil

Ground white pepper

Sesame seeds (white or black)

If desired, puree ½ cup of corn. Set aside all the corn and add with the soup extras.

Heat the NSA stock/broth over medium-high heat. Add all the flavoring extras you’ve chosen to the saucepan with the stock. Turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. If using frozen peas and carrots, cook them with the stock and flavorings.

Add any soup extras to the stock and simmer for another five minutes. Save some scallions for sprinkling on top of the soup at the end.

Remove about ¼ cup stock and whisk it with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a small bowl. Use a spoon or a whisk to stir the soup while slowly pouring in the cornstarch slurry. Let simmer over medium heat for a couple of minutes. The soup will begin to thicken a bit.

Whisk together the eggs in a small bowl with the remaining teaspoon of cornstarch. Make sure the soup is at a slow simmer.

Use a large spoon or ladle to gently stir the soup in one direction. Slowly drizzle the egg mixture through the tines of a fork. Let the soup stand for 10 - 15 seconds, then stir gently to break up the egg to desired size.

Serve sprinkled with thinly sliced scallions.