Type | Soup |
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Place of origin | China |
Main ingredients | Eggs, chicken broth, condiments (black pepper or white pepper), scallions, tofu |
Egg drop soup | |||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||||||
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Literal meaning | egg flower soup | ||||||||||||||
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Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | dànhuātāng |
Yue: Cantonese | |
Jyutping | daan2 faa1 tong1 |
Southern Min | |
Hokkien POJ | tàn-hue-kenn, tàn-hue-kinn |
Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | dànhuāgēng |
Yue: Cantonese | |
Jyutping | daan2 faa1 gang1 |
Egg drop soup (traditional: ; pinyin: dànhuātāng; literally "egg flower soup") is a Chinese soup of wispy beaten eggs in boiled chicken broth. Condiments such as black pepper or white pepper, and finely chopped scallions and tofu are also commonly added. The soup is finished by adding a thin stream of beaten eggs to the boiling broth in the final moments of cooking, creating thin, silken strands or flakes of cooked egg that float in the soup. Egg drop soup using different recipes is known to be a simple-to-prepare soup in different European countries and Japan.
In the United States, egg drop soup is often one of the main soups offered in American Chinese cuisine, and is also called egg flower soup. Cornstarch may be used to thicken it.
In Chinese cuisine, egg drop soups have a thinner consistency than their Western counterpart. Depending on the region, they may be garnished with ingredients such as tofu, scallion, bean sprouts and corn.
In Japan, egg is often dropped unscrambled as the topping for tsukimi (月見) udon or soba. The moon-like appearance of the whole yolk is responsible for the name, which means "moon viewing".
In Italy, stracciatella, a version made of egg and parmesan cheese, is a popular variant of egg drop soup.
Similarly in France le tourin, a garlic soup, is made with egg whites which are drizzled into the soup in much the same way as egg drop soup is made.