Egg drop soup is best flavored with soy sauce, plenty of chopped scallions, and a bit of sesame oil. Starting with a good chicken stock will yield the best results, but purchased stock can be substituted in a pinch.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　1 quart chicken stock

　　4 eggs

　　1 tablespoon soy sauce, or to taste

　　Salt and freshly ground black pepper

　　1/2 cup chopped scallion

　　1 teaspoon sesame oil, or to taste

　　

Step 1

Bring 3 cups of the stock to a boil in a 6- to 8-cup saucepan over medium-high heat. Beat the remaining stock with the eggs and soy sauce until well blended.

　　

Step 2

When the stock is boiling, adjust the heat so that it bubbles frequently but not furiously. Add the egg mixture in a steady stream, stirring all the while. Stir occasionally until the eggs gather together in small curds, 2 or 3 minutes.

　　

Step 3

Taste and add salt (or more soy sauce), if necessary, then add plenty of pepper, the scallion, and the sesame oil. Taste again, adjust the seasoning, and serve.

　　

Eggs In Soup

Step 4

When you use eggs to thicken a sauce or stew, you keep the heat low to gain a smooth, creamy result. In egg drop soup, whether it is Chinese or Italian or Greek, you do just the opposite—keep the heat relatively high so the eggs cook in shreds, or curds. The result is lightning-fast soup of real substance.

　　From Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times by Mark Bittman Copyright (c) 2007 by Mark Bittman Published by Broadway Books.Mark Bittman is the author of the blockbuster Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.