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[Gimpson]

There seem to be a good number of good cooks on here so I thought I'd ask for some advice on something that's vexed me for a while now.  

I'll be making some Hot & Sour soup for a company potluck tomorrow, and I've always had problems adding eggs to a soup.  I'm going for the sheet effect you see in chinese restaurants, but when I add my eggs to the soup they always end up breaking up into very small bits.  

Does anybody have any techniques for getting that nice egg drop soup effect?  I've tried various temperatures and stirring slower or faster as I add the eggs, but they still break up more than I'd like.  Anybody have any ideas on this?

[jough]

The trick is to make sure the soup is REALLY hot, and then to pour the egg quickly from a measuring cup so that you can pour it in a fine stream.

I usually don't stir it very much, because I like the egg to get stringy.  It's easier to break up the larger strings than it is to reconstitute the smaller ones.

[AlohaDawg]

The main trick is to stir in one direction. Some people beat flour in with the eggs, too. Some pour the egg/flour mix through a sieve - that might work against the sheet effect you want, though. Slow stirring in one direction into hot soup that isn't boiling hard and disturbing the water should do it.

Edited to add: Post the recipe. I loves me some hot and sour soup.

[Gimpson]

Absolutely.  I used to eat the hell out of this when I cooked regularly.

Hot and Sour Soup

6 medium dried black mushrooms
1/4 pound pork boneless loin
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
4 to 6 oz. bean curd

4 cups chicken broth
4 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chredded canned bamboo shoots

2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 eggs, sightly beaten
2 tablespoons chopped green onions (with tops)
2 teaspoons red pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Soak mushrooms in warm water until soft, about 30 minutes.  Rinse in warm water; drain.  Remove and discard stems; cut caps into thin slices.  Trim fat from pork; shred pork.  Toss pork, 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce in glass or plastic bowl.  Cover and refrigerate 15 minutes.  Cut bean curd into pieces 1 1/2 x 1/4 inch.

Heat chicken broth, vinegar, 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 teaspoon salt to boiling in 3-quart saucepan.  Stir in bamboo shoots, mushrooms, pork and bean curd.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer 5 minutes.

Mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch, the water and white pepper;  stir into soup.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Pour egg slowly into soup, stirring constantly with fork until egg forms shreds.  Stir in green onions, pepper sauce and sesame oil.  5 servings (about 1 cup each).

-----

That's verbatim from the cookbook, but I usually at least double the pork and use quite a bit more red pepper sauce, probably closer to a tablespoon and a half.  I likes the spicy.

[AlohaDawg]

Is the pork already cooked? If not, how do you shred it?

[Gimpson]

Is the pork already cooked? If not, how do you shred it?

Normally I'll buy the small pork chops, slice them into two thin slices, then cut the slices into raw chunks about 1/4" x 1/4" x 1 to 2".  Today I bought the thin sliced chops, so they're already about 1/4" thick.  But no; raw pork to begin with.  

(Is that correct semi-colon use?  Grammar-nazi to aisle 2.  Assistance required.)

[andalucia]

Leave eggs out of soup.  Soup is so rad and eggs are so the epitome of all food that should not really be eaten by people.

Oh, and I'd use a comma, not a semicolon, since you're basically just using an interjection, not an independant clause.

[slink]

eggs are so the epitome of all food that should not really be eaten by people.

But... But...

But...


I'd have to say that tripe, brain, heart of lights would hold that spot for me.
I mean, eggs are pretty neutral really. Just a bunch of protein and all the bits of a bird unformed, so as to avoid the tripe, brain, hearts and lungs.
Seems like the safest way to eat an animal to me.

Plus egg in soup is just fantastic.

This isn't really me disaggreeing with you, as well, I don't expect to change a vegan's mind. Well, OK I am disaggreeing about the egg statement, and remembering how fantastic egg in soup is!

[AlohaDawg]

Leave eggs out of soup.  Soup is so rad and eggs are so the epitome of all food that should not really be eaten by people.

Oh, and I'd use a comma, not a semicolon, since you're basically just using an interjection, not an independant clause.

No entry found for independant.

Did you mean independent?

Correcting grammar is pretentious except when the correction has an error.

Then it is just tragically humorous.

[andalucia]

all the bits of a bird unformed

I cannot believe you used that phrase in a pro-egg context.  But yes, I do respect your right to eat all the eggs in the world, and to even put them in soups if you so desire.

I just think it's a travesty, is all.

Oh, and good call with "independEnt".  I always, always screw that one up.  However, to justify, it's spelled with an A in French.  Stupid bilingualism.  And is it still pretentious if the person asks for the grammatical advice?

[AlohaDawg]

After further review, the player did in fact request advice. However, due to the spelling error on the defense, the play stands as called: tragically humorous.

Bilingualism does mess one up, though. I was taking French and Spanish in High School  back-to-back periods. That was a pain in the butt. Happily all the Spanish stuck but the French is histoire.