Chinese Egg Drop Soup with Shrimp for Cook the Books Club: February/March Pick: "Crazy Rich Asians"

So this wasn't the recipe I intended to cook for this round of Cook the Books, our virtual foodie book club, but I got behind in my reading, life and work got in my way and then I caught what I think is a doozy of a cold or sinus infection and have been laid up all weekend. So I decided that my Singapore Street Noodle ingredients, were going to morph into a soup, but curry and noodles just didn't sound good this morning. What did? A simple and restorative Chinese Egg Drop Soup with Shrimp. 

I had been meaning to read Crazy Rich Asians so I was pleased when my fellow Hawaii co-host Claudia of Honey From Rock selected it. (See her announcement here.) I saw the movie before the book (but missed the tie-in with Food & Flix) and wanted to see if I enjoyed the book as much. I did enjoy it, but the fun and vibrant film won me over more. the movie streamlined the many family members and plot lines and was easier to digest and you could see all of the food and clothes and wealthy excess rather than read about it. On the other hand, the film does cut a lot out and I appreciated Kevin Kwan's detailed footnotes about the slang, descriptions of the dishes, etc. Although I didn't hang out in most of the elite places he mentions, he does bring the city to life and brought me back to the times I spent there. The time spent on the settings at times overshadows the character development. I wanted a more complete ending in the book too, but since it's a trilogy, I guess I will need to read the other two books to get more detail on what happens next with Rachel and Nick.

There was so much good food in Crazy Rich Asians--it definitely sent me back to my days of traveling there for work and eating at the hawker stalls and great little cafes and coffee shops there. As mentioned, my dish is not Singaporean, but nothing says comfort like egg drop soup and I have a feeling that Rachel's mom might have made her a bowl or two when she needed it.

For my recipe, I looked on line but ultimately just kept the bones of most of the recipes I tried and just threw together what I wanted. That is the beauty of this soup--good broth, eggs and whatever you have on hand--like shrimp and peas that were going into my noodles. Easy and low effort and much better and less salty than the kind from your local Chinese restaurant.

Chinese Egg Drop Soup
By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Serves 4)

4 green onions, sliced, white and green parts separated
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled
5 cups chicken stock or broth (I used no-chicken bouillon paste)
4 tsp cornstarch
sea salt and black pepper to taste
about 1 cup frozen green peas, thawed 
8 oz medium shrimp, shelled and de-veined
5 eggs
toasted sesame oil and/or chili oil, if desired

Combine the onions, ginger and stock and bring to a boil in a large soup pan over a high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 10 minutes. 

Make a slurry with the cornstarch, salt, pepper and 2 Tbsp water in a small bowl, whisking well until the cornstarch is dissolved. Stir the slurry into the soup, stirring with a slotted spoon. Add peas and shrimp to the soup and cook about 2 minutes. 

Beat eggs together well in a small bowl. Using a fork across the lips of the bowl, slowly pour egg through. Let the eggs set for a few minutes, then break them apart into the desired size pieces--you can use a fork or chopstick to break apart the eggs. 

Ladle into bowls and top with the sliced green onions and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and/or chili oil if desired.

Notes/Results: This soup hit the spot today as my head and sinuses are pounding and I needed something simple and soothing. It is velvety and rich and I liked the sweeter bites of shrimp and peas, mixed in the savory broth. I tend to order egg drop soup in Chinese restaurants as it reminds me of family dinners at a very Americanized Chinese restaurant in Portland that my mom and dad loved. I forget how easy it is to make this fridge/pantry soup at home and I will definitely make it again.

The deadline for this round of CTB is tody, March 31st and Claudia be rounding up the entries on the Cook the Books site soon after. If you missed this round and like food, books, and foodie books, join us for February/March when we'll be reading Buttermilk Graffiti, hosted by Debra of Eliot's Eats. 

Since we are on a soup kick and this was our last week cooking with Ruth Reichl at I Heart Cooking Clubs, and I didn't get a chance to make a dish to say Goodbye Ruth with, here are five great soups I cooked with her:

 
First, so good I made it twice, her Avgolemono Soup: 

 
Classic Congee:

 
The retro Cream of Watercress Soup

 
Another retro find, Eggplant Soup Parmigiana

And finally, her Hot Vegetarian (Vegan) Vichyssoise:
 

It was a delicious six months! I look forward to cooking more with Ruth and all of our past featured chefs at IHCC when we celebrate our Ten-Year: All Chefs Edition. Hope you join in the fun! 
 

  
And, last but not least, we have one guest in the Souper Sunday kitchen this week, let's see what she brought...

Angela of Mean Green Chef shares Robust Cabbage Soup and says, "Healthy Robust Cabbage Soup, a full-flavored bowl that’s healthy and light. Super easy to prepare and totally versatile you can add more veg or even some roasted chicken if you want to! You’ve probably seen a lot of cabbage soup recipes for weight loss due to the fact its low calorie. Which is a great benefit, but we also love the full-on taste from sauteing which really helps to develop a serious punch of flavor!"

Thanks for joining in, Angela!

About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays (going since 2008) now has a format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches at any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...
 

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to it on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week!