Egg Drop Soup, a cliché in American-Chinese restaurants for at least fifty years, has a less-well-known Italian counterpart called stracciatella. Both are based on the simple fact that eggs scramble or curdle in boiling water or stock, and each demonstrates the ease with which a basic dish can be transformed in spirit, moving from one cuisine to the other almost as quickly as you can change your mind about which you prefer.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　1 quart chicken stock

　　4 eggs

　　1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, or a little more for garnish

　　A tiny grating of fresh nutmeg

　　2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

　　Salt and freshly ground black pepper

　　

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, cheese, nutmeg, and parsley 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 and pepper to taste, then serve. Garnish with a little more cheese if you like.

　　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.