Scallions Ginger Chicken & Egg-Drop Soup

I came across this recipe on epicurious.com. I took this soup to work as part of a pot-luck our department had on Tuesday. This soup is very light and has a real nice flavor from the ginger, a nice enough tang that I didn't need to add any lemon zest or juice. I was concerned that the amount ginger the recipe called for would be overpowering but that was not the case. As you'll see this is a very simple, straightforward recipe with a small number of ingredients. The recipe called for chicken breast but I used thighs instead because I find thigh meat has better flavor and remains moist for a longer time if you re-heat the soup once or twice.

Oh, almost forgot about the Egg-Drop part of the recipe. I have tried a few different ways to get the egg to result in nice silky threads like the better Chinese restaurants and my success has been minimal. The only time it worked was when I very slowly poured the eggs through the tines of a fork while my son stirred the broth. This approach broke the egg mixture up through the tines and resulted in very nice threads of egg. Unfortunately I didn't figure out that this should be the very, very last step in the cooking process and done just before serving otherwise the longer the soup remains heated the more the egg threads congeal and it doesn't look anywhere as nice but still tastes good. A co-worker suggested I should record this process and put it on YouTube, hmmm, means a new video recorder in needed.

INGREDIENTS


6 scallions (green onions for us simple folk) with some of the green tops cut off
2 cups of water
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1 (2 inch) piece of ginger, peeled and sliced thin
2 skinless and boneless chicken thighs
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon of white pepper

METHOD

1. In a soup pot mix the water, broth, ginger and 3/4 teaspoon of salt.
2. Smash 3 of the scallions with the back of a large wooden spoon and cut into 2 inch pieces.
3. Drop the smashed & cut scallions into the soup pot and bring the mixture to a simmer.
4. Place the chicken and poach at a bare simmer, uncovered, until just barely cooked through, 10-12 minutes.
5. Remove the pot from the heat and transfer the chicken to a cutting board.
6. Let the broth steep covered for 10 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, chop the remaining 3 scallions into random pieces 1/2 inch to 2 inches and shred the chicken.
8. Remove the scallions and ginger from the broth and discard. 
9. Turn off the heat.
10. Add the beaten eggs by pouring very slowly through the tines of a fork while your third hand stirs the broth while the egg is added.
11. Stir in the chopped scallions, shredded chicken and white pepper.

You can provide sesame oil for drizzling on the soup but I don't because most people use too much and the soup becomes overwhelmed.