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Smashed Tofu Egg Drop Soup

Name: Smashed Tofu Egg Drop Soup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 6 cups chicken stock; 2 tablespoon oil; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 1 inch ginger, minced; 1 firm tofu, drained and mashed/crumbled with a fork; 1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste; 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, or to taste; 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (optional); cornstarch slurry (3 tablespoon cornstarch + 4 tablespoon water, mixed well); 2 eggs, lightly beaten; 2 scallions, thinly sliced; sesame oil

Last updated: May 2, 2022 — Published: Nov 30, 2017 — By: Anita — 14 comments

Adding firm tofu to a classic Chinese egg drop soup makes for a healthier and more filling soup. This soup is sure to become your favorite version of egg drop soup.

A classic Chinese egg drop soup is a good repertoire in any good cook since it’s fast, easy, and delicious for any day and any time of the year.

Even though it is simple, there are many ways to level up a basic egg drop soup into something special. Today’s recipe is one such variety whereby by adding firm tofu, we make a more filling and healthier egg drop soup.

Ingredients for smashed tofu egg drop soup

We need the following ingredients to make this simple soup:

chicken stock or mushroom stock for a vegetarian version
oil
garlic
ginger
firm tofu, you can use soft/silken tofu too if you wish
salt and pepper
cornstarch or tapioca starch to thicken the soup
eggs
scallions
sesame oil

I believe most people should have no trouble finding all the ingredients for this soup. You won’t even need to make an extra trip to your Asian grocery stores for all of these ingredients.

(1) Boil chicken stock. (2) Fry garlic and ginger. (3) Add fried garlic and ginger, along with crumbled tofu, salt, pepper, and Shaoxing wine. (4) Thicken soup with cornstarch slurry, then stir in beaten eggs.

Optional ingredient: Shaoxing wine

If you want the soup to feel extra special, I suggest adding a couple of tablespoons of Shaoxing wine, but the soup is already delicious without it. The addition of Shaoxing wine will make it tastes like the soup you get from good Chinese restaurants.

Shaoxing wine in Chinese rice wine. It has an amber-brown color and comes in a glass bottle.

There are two varieties of Shaoxing wine: cooking wine and drinking wine. Cooking Shaoxing wine has salt in it, while the drinking version has no salt.

For recipes such as this soup where we are only adding one to two tablespoons of wine, it is fine to use cooking Shaoxing wine, so don’t worry if you cannot find Shaoxing wine with no salt.

If you are interested in buying drinking Shaoxing wine, it is usually stocked in the alcoholic aisle of your Asian grocery store. This is usually the aisle where you can also get Japanese sake or Korean soju.

Garnish smashed tofu egg drop soup with thinly sliced scallions and sesame oil.

How to cook smashed tofu egg drop soup

Bring chicken stock to a boil in a soup pot.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and sauté garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add this to the chicken stock.
Add mashed/crumbled tofu to the chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Adjust taste as needed.
(Optional) Add Shaoxing wine, if using.
To thicken the soup, add cornstarch slurry to the pot and stir for 2 minutes until the soup is thick. Turn off the heat.
Stream the egg into the soup while stirring the soup in a clockwise direction to form thin shreds.
Serve with thinly sliced scallions and a couple of drops of sesame oil per serving.

Serve the egg drop soup in individual serving bowls, adding more scallions and sesame oil as needed.

Other varieties of egg drop soup to try

If you love a good egg drop soup, please be sure to try these recipes as well: