AI-generated image
Tomato and egg drop soup
Fan qie dan hua tang: Chinese home soup of tomato with silky ribbons of egg
Tomato and egg drop soup, fan qie dan hua tang, is one of the first soups Chinese home cooks learn, made from Shanghai to Chengdu in the ten minutes before rice is ready. Tomatoes cook down into a light, sweet-sour broth and beaten egg is poured in to set into fine yellow ribbons, finished with spring onion and sesame oil. The mistake that makes it cloudy is pouring the egg into a rolling boil and stirring hard; you want a gentle simmer and a slow, thin stream. Chef's tip: fry the tomatoes in a little oil before adding water, so the broth turns rosy and full of flavour.
- Total time
- 17 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 3 ripe tomatoesabout 400 g, cut into wedges
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 ¼ cups wateror vegetable stock
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tbsp cornflourmixed with 2 tbsp cold water
- 2 eggsbeaten
- 2 spring onionsfinely sliced
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Fresh ingredients (3)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add 3 ripe tomatoes and fry, pressing them with the spoon, until they soften and the oil turns red.
3 minStep 2: Pour in 3 ¼ cups water and bring to the boil, then simmer until the tomato skins start to curl away and the broth tastes sweet.
5 minStep 3: Season with 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar and ¼ tsp ground white pepper. Stir 1 tbsp cornflour again and pour it in, stirring, until the soup thickens slightly and turns glossy.
1 minStep 4: Turn the heat down so the soup barely bubbles. Stir it in one slow circle, then pour 2 eggs in a thin stream from a height while it swirls. Leave it alone for 30 seconds until the ribbons are set, then stir once gently.
1 minStep 5: Take off the heat, add 2 spring onions and 1 tsp toasted sesame oil and serve hot.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 80 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 6 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tomato and egg drop soup take?
- About 17 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 12 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of ripe tomatoes?
- Tinned chopped tomatoes: a 400g tin for about 6 tomatoes (in cooked dishes, not salads).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Tiyula itumBlack beef soup
Tiyula itum, 'black soup', is the pride of the Tausug people of Sulu in the far south of the Philippines, cooked for weddings, Eid celebrations and when guests come home. Beef (it is a halal, pork-free dish) is simmered with ginger, lemongrass and turmeric, then darkened with pamapa itum, a paste of grated coconut toasted until almost black and pounded with spices. The broth looks dramatic but tastes smoky, earthy and gently peppery, with heat from chillies. Serve it with plain rice. Chef's tip: toast the coconut slowly, stirring all the time, until it is very dark brown but not ashy; burnt-to-ash coconut tastes bitter and ruins the soup.
Filipino
Ful nabitSprouted fava bean soup
Sprouted beans are ladled out with their cooking liquor in Cairo homes when the weather turns cold or someone is feeling run down, and Egyptians swear by the broth as a pick-me-up. The beans are soaked and left to sprout for a few days, then simmered with onion, garlic and cumin into a light, earthy soup that is sharpened at the table with plenty of lemon. You can eat the beans with a spoon or pop them from their skins. Allow 3 to 4 days for sprouting, although the hands-on work is only about 20 minutes. People with G6PD deficiency (favism) must not eat fava beans. Chef's tip: stop the sprouting when the shoots are about 1 cm long; longer sprouts taste grassy and bitter.
Egyptian
Miso soup
Miso soup (味噌汁) is drunk every day in homes all over Japan, at breakfast as well as dinner, beside a bowl of rice. The base is dashi; this vegan version uses kombu and dried shiitake instead of bonito, which gives it a deep, rounded flavour. Silken tofu and wakame seaweed are the classic fillings. It takes ten minutes; just remember not to boil the miso. Chef's tip: add the miso at the very end and never let it boil. Boiling kills the miso's fresh, fermented aroma; Japanese cooks say the soup should only 'smile', with the surface barely trembling.
Japanese