Enoki & Black Fungus Egg Drop Soup
In this enoki & black fungus egg drop soup (金针菇木耳蛋花汤), the enoki provides healthy fiber while the black fungus gave a crunchy bite to every spoonful of soup. The silky egg ‘flowers’ provided extra nutrition and aesthetics to the soup. I had the entire pot of soup all to myself as a low-carb lunch (yes, I am still doing the one low-carb meal a day thing).
I bought a value-for-money (only S$2.18!) mixed mushroom pack (pic above) at the supermarket, and it contains a nice bundle of enoki mushroom inside which I used to make this soup. Coupled with some leftover soaked black fungus from making stir-fry chicken & black fungus, the duo enoki + fungus gives a nice contrast in colour and texture. The soup turned out really nice. And best of all, it takes only less than 10 minutes of stove action.
See Also:
This is my pot of soup, straight from the stove to the table.
STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS
After cleaning the enoki mushrooms, cut them to short sections. The cut enoki is much easier to chew & digest. They also look better proportionally in the egg drop soup.
Soak the dried black fungus in a large bowl of water until reconstituted. Remove the knot on the underside of each fungus, then cut them to smaller bite-sized pieces as shown above.
In a soup pot, add chicken stock (pictured above) followed by water. Bring to a boil.
Add ginger slices, …
… prepared enoki …
… and black fungus. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 3 minutes.
Stir in cornstarch slurry until the desired consistency is reached (you don’t have to use up all the slurry).
Lower heat to a bare simmer. Stir the soup to create a whirlpool, then swirl in the whisked egg a few times around the pot.
Stir the soup in one direction gently and slowly for a few rounds. As you do so, you will see the egg cooking and separating into smaller strands. Stop stirring once the egg strands are of the correct size you like.
Ladle the soup to serving bowls, add few drops sesame oil and a light dash of white pepper powder to taste. Garnish with coriander and/or spring onions.
Enoki & Black Fungus Egg Drop Soup Recipe
Cutting the enoki mushroom to short lengths make them easier to chew & digest. It also improves the aesthetics of the dish.
Use vegetable or mushroom stock in place of the chicken stock to make this soup meatless.
Ingredients:
- 10g dried black fungus
- 100g enoki mushrooms cleaned
- 350 ml rich (tetra-pak) chicken stock
- 150 ml water
- 2 slices ginger
- cornstarch slurry dissolve 2 tbsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp water
- 1 egg lightly beaten
Garnishing Suggestions
- few drops of sesame oil to taste
- white pepper powder to taste
- chopped spring onions &/or coriander
Directions:
- Prepare dried black fungus by soaking them in a large bowl of water until reconstituted. Remove the ‘knot’ on the underside of each fungus by cutting it out with kitchen scissors. Cut the fungus to small pieces.
- Prepare enoki mushrooms. Clean the enoki and cut them to 2 cm sections. Separate out the bunched bottom to smaller bunches using your fingers.
- Make the soup. Add chicken stock and water to a pot. Add prepared fungus, enoki mushrooms and ginger slices. Simmer for 3 minutes, covered. Thicken with cornstarch slurry until the soup thickens to your liking (you don’t have to use all of the slurry).
- Make egg drop. Lower the heat to a bare simmer. Using chopsticks or a spatula, stir the soup to create a whirlpool, then swirl in the whisked egg a few times around the pot. Stir the soup in one direction gently and slowly for a few rounds. As you do so, you will see the egg cooking and separating into smaller strands. Stop stirring once the egg strands are of the correct size you like; the more rounds you stir, the finer and more delicate the egg strands.
- To serve, ladle soup to serving bowls. Garnish with a few drops of sesame oil, white pepper powder and spring onions &/or coriander.
Cooking Note(s):
- You can substitute dried black fungus with about 75g fresh black fungus. You still need to remove the ‘knot’ on the underside of each fungus as described in step 1.
- This is the brand of chicken stock I used. Do adjust the soup to taste (in terms of water and seasonings such as salt or soy sauce if required) accordingly.