Soup for Sickie

I have quite the stack of fun goodies to share with you, but only one thing sounded good to me today: Egg Drop Soup. It's my standard sick food and, alas, I find myself with a touch of the stomach flu. Unfortunately, we have not found a Chinese restaurant in SF that serves egg drop soup (not that I've scoured the city or anything). I knew I'd find my beloved crispy noodle chow mein in short supply in a land of actual Chinese food, but I had no idea my stand-by soup would be similarly offensive. I love wonton soup as much, if not more, and quite enjoy sizzling rice soup, but on some sick days nothing else will suffice. I had eggs and Better than Bouillon in the fridge, so I made my own. So there, real Chinese food.

Egg Drop Soup

4 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp black or white pepper
2 1/2 - 3 Tblspn corn starch
2 eggs
1 egg yolk OR 1 egg white

In a pot, bring 3 3/4 cup broth to a boil. In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir corn starch into the other 1/4 cup of broth. In another small bowl or cup, beat eggs with a fork. Add ginger, sugar, and pepper to boiling broth. Slowly add cornstarch liquid, stirring constantly. After soup has thickened, very slowly drizzle in beaten egg while slowly stirring. Egg should cook into ribbons instantly. Serve with soy sauce, if desired.

Add-in ideas: Toss in diced chives or green onion at the end for color and flavor. Add frozen peas, sliced mushrooms, and/or water chestnuts to boiling broth just before thickening. For vegetables that need time to cook, like chopped carrots, boil them in the broth until tender, 10-20 minutes, before adding other ingredients.

An aside: An improperly screwed on lid (packaging is my kryptonite) taught me that corn starch makes kitchen tiles feel quite silky under bare feet. And it's really quite hard to sweep up entirely and tends to cling to said bare feet.