Make Your Own Egg Drop Soup

Okay so if you’ve been with us for awhile, you already know that we have been trying to make our own Asian food rather than ordering out. So far we have conquered Honey Sesame Chicken and General Tso’s Chicken, but there is one thing that Erica always orders as a side when we get Chinese – Egg Drop Soup. Growing up, she and her family would always order a huge tub!

So we set out to learn to make our own and we think we have conquered it too. This recipe was way easier than we expected and calls for a lot of ingredients you might already have. Here is a link to the original recipe we found, but as always we adapted it a little to accommodate our college budget. Feel free to check it out for other variations.

What’s your favorite Chinese food?

Egg Drop Soup

Print this recipe!

Don’t go buying the take out stuff anymore!

• Servings – 2 to 4
• Prep time – 5 minutes
• Cook time – 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 cups (32 oz) chicken or vegetable stock
• Fresh ginger, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 8 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 4  green onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 large eggs
• Salt or soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Protocol

1. Heat the stock over medium heat in a sauce pan. Add in the large chunks of ginger and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Remove the ginger chunks with a slotted spoon and add in the salt or soy sauce for flavor. After, add in the mushrooms and green onion and simmer for another 5 minutes or so or until cooked through.

2. Remove 1/4 of a cup of the broth and set aside in a small bowl. Add in the tablespoon of cornstarch and whisk together. Add this back into the broth and simmer for another minute or two.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and mix in the teaspoon of cornstarch.

4. Bring the broth down to a bare simmer, slowly whisk in the egg using a fork held to the edge of the bowl to help drizzle (see photo below).

5. Turn off the heat and let sit for 1 minute to let eggs finish cooking.

6. Serve and enjoy!

-D&E

Make Your Own General Tso’s Chicken

Okay we confess, we do order Chinese take out every once and awhile. Maybe not as much as the average college kid, but enough to be like, “Ugh I immediately regret this decision.” Yes, Chinese take out can be very tasty and convenient, but you usually feel awful and hate yourself after.

But as you can see from our Honey Sesame Chicken recipe from Monday, we are looking to turn that trend around! We want to see more college kids cooking their own Chinese food so that they don’t have to take out anymore (except maybe taking the food out to their dining room).

83% of college students know what General Tso’s (*HIMYM salute*) chicken is, and 98.3% of college kids have probably eaten it at one point or another in their lives (however only 56% of the 98.3% actually remember, we’re 94.67% sure). As it turns out, General Tso’s chicken isn’t that hard to  make. Okay, maybe it did take a bit of work and a bit of clean up after. So we suggest you try to make this on a weekend or when you have more time.

We adapted from this recipe from the blog How Sweet it is. By the way the author of the blog is another Pittsburgher! Hip-hip hurrah!

We separated the chicken and sauce sections of the recipe because you can just make the sauce with some steamed veggies if you want. Also, make sure you prepare rice before hand to serve this with. Good luck!

General Tso’s Chicken

Print this recipe!

Yes you can serve this in Styrofoam containers as long as you promise to make it yourself! …and you can eat it with a fork instead of chopsticks.

• Servings – 3 to 4
• Prep time – 20 minutes
• Cook time – 25 minutes

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

• 1 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 whole large egg white
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
• Canola, peanut, or vegetable oil

For the Sauce

• 1 tablespoon peanut, canola or vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger root
• 1 cup chicken broth or stock
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon Chinese chili-garlic sauce
• 3 tablespoons raw sugar (or brown sugar)

Protocol

For the Chicken:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, and egg white.

2. Mix in the cornstarch. This will become very thick and difficult to stir.

3. Cut your chicken into about 1 inch pieces and add chicken into the bowl. Mix to evenly coat the chicken.

4. Cover in cling-wrap and let marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes. In the mean time prepare your rice or veggies you will serve with this. Also, start the sauce found in the “For the Sauce” directions below.

5. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a heavy duty pan over high heat.

6. In about 2 or 3 batches, fry the chicken pieces 3 to 4 minutes a side or until golden brown. Let cool on a paper towel-lined plate.

For the Sauce:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, soy sauce, cornstarch, chili-sauce, and sugar.

2. In a small sauce pan, heat the tablespoon of oil and stir in the garlic and ginger. Continue to stir until fragrant. About a minute.

3. Pour in the sauce and cook over low heat, stirring every minute or so until sauce really thickens up.

For the Finale:

1. In a large pot or bowl, mix together the chicken and sauce. You can also toss in steamed vegetables if you want.

2. Serve over hot rice and enjoy!

-D&E