Cook’s notes
This recipe includes instructions for making dashi from scratch. If you prefer a short cut, simply stir about two tablespoons of dashi granules (available in Japanese groceries) into water and heat to make the broth.
Dashi, of course, is a broth made with kombu and bonito flakes. One of the many things I learned by talking with shop owners in Nishiki Market in Osaka is that bonito flakes may be made with the light or dark meat of skipjack tuna and that they can be thickly or thinky shaved.
Thinly-sliced light-colored bonito flakes are best for garnishing dishes like okonomiyaki and takoyaki. Deep pink bonito flakes made with the dark meat of the fish make a stronger broth.
Mushrooms, seaweed or other vegetables can be added to the basic Japanese egg drop soup. If adding anything that requires rehydration or lengthy cooking, precook it before adding to the dashi. In this recipe, rehydrated slivers of wood ears were added to the soup.
As with any egg drop soup, a little cornstarch dispersed in water (some call it “slurry” but I really loathe that term) is stirred into the broth to thicken it a bit. A slightly thickened broth allows the egg clouds to remain suspended near the surface instead of sinking to the bottom.
Japanese egg drop soup
Ingredients
- ¼ cup kombu pieces
- ¼ cup bonito flakes
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- salt
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch dispersed in two tablespoons of water
- 2 eggs beaten
- thinly sliced scallions to garnish
Instructions
- Pour six cups of water into a pot and add the kombu and bonito flakes.
- Bring to the boil, simmer for five minutes then turn off the heat. Leave to steep for 10 to 15 minutes then strain.
- Pour the strained liquid (that’s your dashi) into a clean pot.
- Turn on the stove and pour in the soy sauce. Taste and add as much salt is needed to get a good flavor.
- If you’re adding extra ingredients to your egg drop soup (mushrooms, seaweeds or vegetables), add them now.
- Stir in the starch solution. The broth will appear cloudy but, as it heats up, it will turn clear again.
- Simmer the broth for about five minutes then turn off the heat.
- Pour the beaten eggs in a thin stream over the entire surface of the broth.
- Leave to let the eggs cook in the broth before stirring gently.
- Ladle your Japanese egg drop soup into bowls, sprinkle in scallions and serve.
Sweet peas soup