Prep 5 mins · Cook 15 mins · Total 20 mins · Servings 4 · Difficulty Moderate
For 6 cups stock
Ingredients
6 cups high quality low sodium chicken stock
1 cup water
Aromatics
1 to 2 thin slices fresh ginger
2 scallions, whites only, smashed
Egg base
3 large eggs
1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp cornstarch
Seasoning
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp Shaoxing wine
1/8 tsp sugar
White pepper, split, pinch in pot and pinch in bowls
Kosher salt to taste, after thickening
Slurry
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp cold water
Finish
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil for the pot
Up to 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil split across bowls
2 scallions, greens only, sliced thin
Beat the eggs
Crack the eggs into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp water and 1/2 tsp cornstarch.
Beat until uniformly yellow with no streaks. The cornstarch is what keeps the ribbons tender.
Pour the egg mix into a measuring cup with a narrow spout.
Steep the aromatics
Combine stock, water, ginger, and scallion whites in a pot.
Bring to a steady simmer over medium heat. Hold 5 minutes.
Fish out the ginger and scallion whites with a slotted spoon.
Season the soup
Add light soy, Shaoxing, sugar, and a small pinch of white pepper.
Taste. Hold the salt until after thickening.
Mix the slurry
Whisk 2 tbsp cornstarch into 2 tbsp cold water until smooth. No lumps.
Thicken
Bring the soup to a steady simmer.
Stir in one direction while drizzling the slurry in. Simmer 1 minute.
Check the body. The soup should coat the back of a spoon lightly. If it needs more, add the optional second slurry from the Notes.
Salt now
Add salt in small pinches until the soup tastes complete. Stock-led broths need less than you think.
Drop the heat
Reduce to low. The soup should be steaming, not boiling. Bubbles at the edge only.
Pour the eggs
Stir 6 to 8 circles in one direction to form a slow whirlpool. Slow the stir down.
Pour the eggs in a hair-thin stream from 6 to 8 inches above the surface, moving the spout across the pot.
Stop stirring. Count to 12.
Rest the ribbons
Stir gently 2 times to loosen the ribbons. Turn off the heat.
Rest 30 seconds undisturbed.
Finish and ladle
Stir 1/2 tsp sesame oil into the pot.
Ladle into bowls. Top each with a pinch of scallion greens, a tiny pinch of white pepper, and a few drops of sesame oil. Total sesame oil cap is 1 tsp across the whole pot, never more.
Notes
Stock
The dish is the stock. If it tastes bland or metallic straight from the carton, the soup will never recover. Reliable store options: Zoup Good Really Good Chicken Broth, Kettle and Fire Chicken Bone Broth, Bonafide Provisions Chicken Broth, Imagine Organic Free Range Low Sodium, Whole Foods 365 Organic Low Sodium. Avoid heavily herb-flavored broths, they fight the ginger and white pepper.
Stock fallback
If your stock is weak, dissolve 1 to 1 1/2 tsp Better Than Bouillon Chicken into the pot during the season step. Reduce or skip added salt at the end, the bouillon carries plenty.
Egg pour
Hair-thin stream, 6 to 8 inches up, moving across the surface so eggs land in different spots. Stop stirring the moment the eggs hit. The 12-second count is what lets the strands set into ribbons instead of clouds.
Slurry thickness
2 tbsp cornstarch to 6 cups stock is the canonical light body. For the thicker restaurant style, mix a second slurry of 1/2 tbsp cornstarch in 1/2 tbsp cold water and stir it in after the first slurry has simmered 1 minute. Cook 30 seconds more.
White pepper
Split is the move. A pinch in the pot during seasoning blooms into the broth. A second pinch in the bowl hits the nose at the first spoonful.
Sesame oil cap
1 tsp total across the whole pot, never more. Half goes in the pot off heat, half splits across the bowls. Past 1 tsp the oil dominates and the broth reads heavy.
Skipped boosts
Optional 1/2 tsp Megachef oyster sauce can go in during seasoning if your stock is thin and you want savory depth. Optional 1/2 tsp egg yolk beaten into the egg base gives a richer color. Both are crutches for weak stock. The restraint version above is the cleaner read when the stock is good.
