Sweetcorn egg drop soup
I first discovered egg drop soup a few years back – in fact, it was one of the very first recipes I ever posted on this blog way back in 2011. You can find it if you use my search bar… but I wouldn’t recommend it. The recipe itself is a little questionable, and the photo (singular) is enough to put you off for life. I thought it deserved a bit of a revamp (read: it deserved to be changed in just about every single way), so here’s its current form: sweetcorn egg drop soup.
To be fair, it’s pretty hard to make egg drop soup beautiful – it does look a little odd. If you’ve never had it before, it’s a kind of ‘does what it says on the tin’ kind of recipe – it’s a Chinese soup that’s had beaten eggs dropped into it, so they cook right into the soup and give an unusual (but not at all unpleasant!) texture. It’s a great way to make a simple, brothy soup feel much more hearty and filling. Some red chilli and green spring onions go a long way to making it more attractive, with their flecks of vibrant colour, but it’s still not exactly a stunner.
Luckily, the flavour of this sweetcorn egg drop soup is lovely. The base of the soup is a paste made from red chillies, garlic and sweetcorn kernels – then you just add some veggie stock (we’ve not got a huge number of ingredients here, so make sure you use the good stuff!), spring onions and those all-important beaten eggs, and you’re pretty much there. I also scattered a few sesame seeds on top of my soup, purely to make it marginally more attractive. It needs all the help it can get.
Overall, this sweetcorn egg drop soup is light, but still fills you up – often a tricky balance to find. It’s really low calorie, so I served mine with some veggie spring rolls for dipping. They’re not essential, but definitely recommended (when are extra spring rolls ever not recommended?).
Sweetcorn Egg Drop Soup
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 1 mild red chilli, seeds removed
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 260 g sweetcorn kernels (~ 1 1/2 cups) – I used tinned
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp cornflour
- 1 litre good quality vegetable stock (~ 4 cups)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 spring onion, chopped
- 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Add the red chilli and clove of garlic to a food processor, along with about 2/3 of the sweetcorn. Blitz to form a coarse paste.
- Heat the sesame oil in a saucepan, and add the sweetcorn paste. Cook over a medium-low heat for a couple of minutes, until fragrant. Add the cornflour, and mix well.
- Add the vegetable stock and soy sauce, along with a generous amount of black pepper and the remaining 1/3 of the sweetcorn. Stir gently to incorporate the sweetcorn paste, using the back of the spoon to break up any lumps. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Over a medium heat, slowly pour the eggs into the soup, and stir gently as they cook (more vigorous stirring will lead to smaller strands of egg). Add the chopped spring onions, cook for 1 more minute or until the egg is completely cooked, then serve topped with sesame seeds if desired.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
It sounds gorgeous to me Becca… love sweetcorn! I’ve never tried a soup like this before but know it’ll be lush :-)
Well done. You’ve managed to make the soup look most appealing. Quite a hard feat I expect!
Haha thanks Choclette, yes it’s not exactly the most photogenic soup I’ve ever made ;)
I’ve never heard of egg drop soup before but the sweetcorn paste you make at the start sounds lovely and adding the eggs must make it more filling too. Yum!
It’s somehow filling and light at the same time, magic haha
This is very similar to the chicken and sweetcorn soup I make. I bet it tastes equally delicious as a vegetarian option.
I find egg drop soup is something you need to get a taste for. It’s not really the taste, but the look and consistancy. But without getting hung up on that, they are lovely flavoursome soups and great for a meal. Adding sweetcorn is a lovely idea. Delicious.
Yes you definitely have to look past the appearance haha, but it tastes really good.
My daughter would love this recipe! She’s a sweetcorn addict!
Julie
This looks like it needs to be made today! I love soups for lunch and am always looking for new ideas.
This is a very common type of soup in Asia. Have never thought of making it myself though, will give it a go though. Looks lovely. :)
Yes I’ve had it a lot at Chinese restaurants, but it seems a lot of people haven’t heard of it before. Definitely one to try at home!
Looks delicious and healthy, it is definitely on my to do list for this weekend , love the touch of mild heat from red chili peppers, thanks for sharing!
I can’t resist adding those medium red chillies to everything, they give the perfect level of spice :)
Well that is different and I am definitely intrigued by the sound of it, not to mention it looks delicious. Definitely want to give this a try!
If you’ve not tried egg drop soup before you should give it a go, it looks a bit odd but tastes really good!