Egg Drop Soup
Ginger-scented chicken broth, lightly thickened, with beaten egg poured in a thin stream so it blooms into silky ribbons: China's ten-minute home soup.
Method
Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat with chopsticks for about a minute, until no blobs of white remain; unbeaten white makes clumpy ribbons. Thinly slice the spring onions and cut the ginger into 2 or 3 thin slices.
Add in this stepEggs 2
Put the stock and ginger in a 18 cm pot and heat over high heat for . When it boils, reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for to infuse the ginger, then lift the ginger out.
Add in this stepChicken stock (low-salt) 600 mlFresh ginger, thinly sliced 3 g
high heat→medium-low heatSeason with the salt, soy sauce and white pepper. Shop-bought stock can already be salty, so add half the salt, taste, then add more. Stir the cornstarch into the cold water (it settles, so stir again just before pouring) and pour it in slowly while stirring the soup; cook over medium heat for until the broth turns clear and slightly thick.
Add in this stepSalt ½ tspLight soy sauce 1 tspWhite pepper 2 pinchCornstarch 2½ tspCold water (for the slurry) 2½ tbsp
medium heatLower the heat to medium-low heat so the soup barely bubbles. Stir it in one direction with a ladle to make a gentle whirlpool, then pour in the egg in a thin stream from about 20 cm, letting it run down a pair of chopsticks. Leave it untouched for until the egg sets into white ribbons, then stir gently once or twice.
medium-low heatTurn off the heat, add a few drops of sesame oil, scatter over the spring onions and serve straight away. The egg toughens if it sits, so make it just before eating.
Add in this stepToasted sesame oil 1 tspSpring onions 1
Cook's tip
The secret to delicate ribbons is a barely simmering broth and a slow, thin pour; a rolling boil shreds the egg and clouds the soup. Tomato, sweetcorn kernels or silken tofu are all good additions.
Cooking it at camp
A stock cube and water are all you need, so it is easy on a single camp burner. Beat the eggs at home and carry them in a lidded jar in the cooler. Wind makes the flame jump, so set up a windscreen to hold a low simmer.