Beaten Egg Soup

Title:
Beaten Egg Soup

Yield:
4 Servings

Categories:
Eggs,
Soups,
Japanese




Ingredients:





     5 c  Dashi; (or light chicken or


          -beef stock)


     1 ts Salt


   1/2 ts Light soy sauce


          Splash sake'


     2 ts Cornstarch mixed w/ 2 T.


          -water


     2 lg Eggs; beaten


   1/2 ts Fresh ginger juice *OR*


          Finely chopped lemon rind or


          -green onion


     4    Stalks trefoil (mitsuba) *OR


          -SUBSTITUTE following; cut


          -into 1" lengths


     1    Sprig either watercress or


          -parboiled fresh; spinach






 To assemble and serve: Bring the dashi just to a boil over high heat, then


 simmer while seasoning to taste with the salt, soy sauce, and sak?. Reduce


 heat to low.


 


 With the heat on low, stir in the cornstarch-and-water mixture. Stir for 30


 seconds or so till thick and smooth and raise heat to bring the soup to a


 high simmer. Never let it boil.


 


 Slowly pour a thin stream of beaten egg in a spiral over the entire surface


 of the soup. Do not stir immediately, but let the egg start to set, about


 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir soup gently and constantly with a wire whisk


 for another minute or so to allow the egg to separate into threadlike


 filaments.


 


 Finally, add the ginger juice and trefoil and remove from heat immediately.


 Pour into individual soup bowls, garnishing each with a bit of trefoil from


 the soup. Serve immediately.


 


 Variation: Use 1/2 cake tofu (bean curd), cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Add


 after the egg and let simmer till heated (about 30 seconds) before adding


 the ginger juice and trefoil.


 


 NOTES : Trefoil is a member of the parsley family. It is an annual herb


 that has thin greenish-white stalks approximately 6 to 7 inches long,


 topped with a comopund leaf of three flat, deeply cut leaflets. Depending


 on the variety, the leaves range in color and size from pale to bright


 green and from small to rather full. It has a flavor somewhere between


 sorrel and celery and an attractive light green color, mitsuba is used in


 many Japanese dishes as a flavor and color accent. Used only fresh, it is


 often lightly parboiled beforehand to rid it of any "parsleyish" overtones.


 Also, professional cooks usually use only the stems because leaves and


 stems have different cooking times, but it is not necessary to be so fussy.


 The leaves become bitter if overcooked, so only lightly parboil or very


 gently stirfry.(Request more info if desired. I ran out of room here. I


 didn't know MC had a size limit!)


 Recipe by: Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art pg. 346


 


 Posted to recipelu-digest Volume 01 Number 536 by "Valerie Whittle"


 
on Jan 15, 1998