COOKING ADVENTURES # 10: Chicken Egg Drop Soup
Before I get started on all things chicken, egg, and soup, I have a link for you all. Please do me the favor of clicking on this link. It will open up in a different tab and you will be ushered into what I’ve found is my ideal music for this particular cooking adventure. Enjoy it!
Today’s cooking adventure doesn’t really deserve to be called a cooking “adventure”. No, this was more of a cooking frolic. Frolics aren’t as dazzling and exciting. They are usually done in familiar places and don’t necessarily take as much time. They’re not dangerous or life-threatening. In fact, they sound like something you would do on a Sunday afternoon just before a picnic. But, on some occasions, even the most innocent frolic can hold a surprise.
Now to be fair, soup can be tricky. I was completely and totally unaware of how to make egg drop soup, let alone with chicken. So I expected it to be a grand journey with several mishaps and possible messes. However, this literally took ten minutes to cook, tasted fantastic, and smelled wonderful. So, it wasn’t necessarily jaw-dropping or adrenaline-filled. I say this was more… quirky.
The recipe wants you to use 4 cups of low sodium chicken stock. And because I’m a noob and wasn’t in any kind of hurry to cook a whole chicken and use it’s broth, I bought a boxed container from the store. I used a little more than 4 cups but, if I hadn’t, there would have been less than a 1/4 cup of the stuff sitting in that box. I was not going to store a thin layer of chicken stock for later use. I wouldn’t use it. It would sit in the fridge, and slowly slide to the back. I’d find it months later and probably a malevolant chicken-like creature would crawl out of it and proceed to suck out my brain.
It could happen.
Along with the chicken stock, I added 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce. I dashed in some more for good measure because I thought the proportion sounded a little off. Good thing I did, too. I put the liquid mixture in a saucepan and turned on the front burner to medium while I prepared the remainder of the ingredients. I snagged a box of peas from the freezer and a white onion from the pantry.
Oh, the dreaded onion. Many of you know my past battles with this malicious vegetable, the crab cake epic being the latest loss on my side. Instead of buying my usual red onion, I bought a white one. The recipe actually calls for green onions but I’m pretty much convinced that no one in Midcoast Maine sells those damn things. I was not going to go on a statewide, grail-like search for green onion because it certainly wasn’t going to offer me eternal life.
I began cutting the onion. After a few moments had passed, I started chanting, “Not gonna cry. Not gonna cry.” And when I’d cut through half of the onion, my chant became, “Gonna cry. Gonna cry.” And I did. But not both eyes, understand. Just the left one. Because for some unknown reason, it’s that one alone that reacts to onion. While I dribbled from one eye, I finished slicing the demon veggie up and put it aside while I focused on the broth again.
Nothing was happening. I got angry. I turned the heat up to high.
Now, I’d had the chicken in the freezer and didn’t bother to thaw it. So what I do? I put it on a plate and I microwaved it. For 30 seconds… x 5 or 6…? I’m not sure how many times I pressed the button but I wanted to make sure it was partially cooked before I shredded it and put it in the broth. As I waited for it to finish its cycles, I tore open the peas, and broke them up in the box so that they’d fall out easier.
The broth was boiling. I dumped in the onion, managing to splatter my hands and arms with hot broth. (That felt great.) Then the peas. I slid the chicken out of the microwave, sliced and diced it with a knife and dropped the pieces in. Then it stayed on boil for another few minutes to allow the chicken to cook fully through.
During this time, I checked other recipes to see what some people had added for spices and came upon a recipe that said to put ginger. And I just happened to have ginger! I sprinkled a pretty good dose of it into the broth while everything cooked.
Next, comes the egg. I cracked it into a bowl, took a fork and lightly stirred it. I’m not entirely sure how you “lightly stir” an egg but I figured it meant breaking the yoke and ensuring it was partially strewn through-out the white. Globs of yoke stuck to my fork. The directions tell you to “drizzle the egg in a slow, steady stream.” Good God. I tried, really, I did. But it kind of… plopped and then drizzled. It was then that I realized I was supposed to have the saucepan off of the heat. I quickly removed it and stirred the egg in to the broth. A giant blob of egg surfaced and I quickly hacked at it with my spoon until it was in pieces.
I stared kind of dazed at it. Was that really it? That was all I had to do? Wow. I toasted some bread, slathered it in butter and dipped it into the soup to taste. And burned my tongue. Once I’d recovered, I tried again. Fantastic! Just the right amount of soy sauce, just the right touch of ginger. I had two helpings! Mmm-mmm!
Next week, I’ll be doing a super special recipe. My authory friend, Jen Blood, is running a Hunger Games inspired month on her blog which can be found here! She’s asked me if I would like to do a guest post about something Hunger Games related! So, I’ve decided to make one of the crazy Capitol recipes for next week’s Cooking Adventure! It will not be posted on my blog! It will be on her page! I will have a link to it from here and I’ll also post that link on my Cooking Adventures page! “Chicken with Creamy Orange Sauce and a Star-Shaped Biscuit” are next week’s adventure. And I promise, it certainly won’t be a frolic…
In other brief news, both my reading in Portland and my event in Union were successes. I’ll discuss these in more detail this weekend. I also only have 16 pages left to edit on “Aequitas” and I’m hoping to finish it tonight. Cross your fingers for me people because I also have a migraine right now. I’m not going to let it get the better of me!
~KSilva
The Kat At Night 
Nice post! Keep up the good work!