Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times - Mark Bittman [5]
EGG DROP SOUP
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 15 MINUTES
EGG DROP SOUP is best flavored with soy sauce, plenty of chopped scallions, and a bit of sesame oil. Starting with a good chicken stock will yield the best results, but purchased stock can be substituted in a pinch.
1 quart chicken stock
4 eggs
1 tablespoon soy sauce, or to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup chopped scallion
1 teaspoon sesame oil, or to taste
1. Bring 3 cups of the stock to a boil in a 6- to 8-cup saucepan over medium-high heat. Beat the remaining stock with the eggs and soy sauce until well blended.
2. When the stock is boiling, adjust the heat so that it bubbles frequently but not furiously. Add the egg mixture in a steady stream, stirring all the while. Stir occasionally until the eggs gather together in small curds, 2 or 3 minutes.
3. Taste and add salt (or more soy sauce), if necessary, then add plenty of pepper, the scallion, and the sesame oil. Taste again, adjust the seasoning, and serve.
STRACCIATELLA
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 15 MINUTES
EGG DROP SOUP, a cliché in American-Chinese restaurants for at least fifty years, has a less-well-known Italian counterpart called stracciatella. Both are based on the simple fact that eggs scramble or curdle in boiling water or stock, and each demonstrates the ease with which a basic dish can be transformed in spirit, moving from one cuisine to the other almost as quickly as you can change your mind about which you prefer.
1 quart chicken stock
4 eggs
¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or a little more for garnish
A tiny grating of fresh nutmeg
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Bring 3 cups of the stock to a boil in a 6- to 8-cup saucepan over medium-high heat. Beat the remaining stock with the eggs, cheese, nutmeg, and parsley until well blended.
2. When the stock is boiling, adjust the heat so that it bubbles frequently but not furiously. Add the egg mixture in a steady stream, stirring all the while. Stir occasionally until the eggs gather together in small curds, 2 or 3 minutes.
3. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste, then serve. Garnish with a little more cheese if you like.
AVGOLEMONO
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: ABOUT 30 MINUTES
IF STRACCIATELLA IS egg drop soup’s less-well-known cousin, avgolemono is its neglected stepchild and it can be prepared easily, quickly, and almost effortlessly from ingredients that most of us always have on hand.
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock, preferably homemade
½ cup long-grain rice or orzo
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped tomatoes (optional)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
Minced fresh dill or parsley for garnish
1. Put the stock in a large, deep saucepan or casserole and turn the heat to medium-high. When it is just about boiling, turn the heat down to medium so that it bubbles but not too vigorously. Stir in the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is cooked, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the tomatoes if you’re using them; turn the heat under the soup to low.
2. Use a whisk to beat the eggs in a bowl with the lemon zest and juice; still beating, add about ½ cup of the hot stock. Gradually add about another cup of the stock, beating all the while. Pour this mixture back into the soup and reheat, but under no circumstances allow the mixture to boil.
3. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt, pepper, or lemon juice as necessary. Garnish and serve.
GARLIC SOUP WITH SHRIMP
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 30 MINUTES
MOST SOUPS HAVE simple origins, but none more so than this Mediterranean one of France, whose antecedent is usually called something