Egg Drop Soup - Broke Food

Today's installment of broke food is just in time for the cold weather!  It's simple, filling, delicious, and best of all, it's inexpensive.  Have it by itself for a meal that is satisfying, or pair it with last week's broke food fried rice recipe, and you'll have enough to feed several people or have leftovers.  

Someone recently told me that I could make these recipes "richer" or have more ingredients in them.  I could, but that's not the point.  The point is to be able to make a meal with what you have on hand by using simple ingredients with just enough spices, additions, and creativity to make it feel like you're not scraping the bottom of the cupboard.   Egg Drop Soup also has just enough protein, in the form of the egg, to give it some substance and flavor. 

On a side note, I LOVE this soup if I've been sick.  It's wonderful for an upset tummy, and it's also very soothing if you've had a cold or the flu.  It just hits the spot in a satisfying way. 

Egg Drop Soup

16 oz (2 cups) chicken broth or prepared chicken bouillon (2 cubes bouillon to 2 cups water)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

A dash of garlic powder

1 egg, beaten  

2-3 green onions/scallions ( or 1 tablespoon chopped onion or 1 teaspoon dried minced onion)

Wire whisk

Optional: 1 teaspoon corn starch mixed with cold water (to thicken soup)* 

In a medium saucepan, bring broth or bouillon to a rolling boil.   Add soy sauce and dash of garlic powder.  Allow to cook for 1 minute and return to rolling boil.  Begin whisking the broth rapidly while pouring beaten egg into broth.  Whisk rapidly until egg forms cooked "strings."  Stop whisking and allow soup to return to a boil.  Add in onions and allow to cook for another minute or so, to combine flavors.  Thicken with cornstarch, if desired.  Serve hot.  Sample and then salt to taste.  Other seasonings to try are ground black pepper, a bit of ground/fresh ginger, or red pepper flakes. 

*Remember, when adding cornstarch to hot liquids, you must first add cold water to the corn starch and stir it well until it is dissolved.  Then pour it into your hot soup. Stir continuously until soup is desired thickness.