Tomato and Egg Drop Soup Japanese Way is based on Chinese Tomato and Egg Drop Soup, except that I used dashi stock for the soup base. It has a clean and refreshing taste, with a gentle flavouring. The sourness from the tomato goes so well with the egg.
Use konbu dashi to make this soup vegetarian.
Watch the video.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 1 tomato (medium size of about 150-180g/5.3-6.3oz)
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp oil
- 400ml/0.84pt dashi stock (note 1)
- ⅜ tsp salt (note 2)
- 1 tsp mirin
- 1 tsp light soy sauce (or normal soy sauce)
- ½ tbsp corn flour/cornstarch diluted in 1 tbsp water
- Finely chopped parsley (note 3)
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Beat the egg in a small bowl or a jar.
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Cut the tomato into 8 wedges, then halve each wedge perpendicular to the first cut.
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Heat oil in a saucepan over medium high heat.
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Put the tomatoes into the pan and cook for about 2 minutes until the surface of the tomato pieces starts softening. While cooking, turn the tomato pieces over to cook different sides of the tomato pieces.
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Add the dashi stock, then the rest of the Broth ingredients, excluding corn flour, to the pan.
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When the broth starts boiling, remove the bubbly scum if it surfaces. Reduce the heat to gently simmer.
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Stir the corn flour with water well so that the corn flour is diluted in the water, then dribble the corn flour into the pan, a small amount at a time, and mix the broth quickly (note 4).
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When the broth thickens, bring the heat up slightly so that the broth is gently boiling.
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Using chopsticks or a fork, pour the beaten egg along the chopsticks/fork, drawing a circle starting from the centre of the pot towards the outer edge (note 5).
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Gently stir the egg ribbons with the chopsticks/fork where the egg is still uncooked, then turn the heat off.
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Transfer the soup to serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley.
1. I made dashi stock from scratch per my recipe Home Style Japanese Dashi Stock. But you can use granular dashi powder added to 400ml/0.84pt of water. Be aware that granular dashi powder contains salt and you may want to adjust the amount of salt to add to the broth.
2. ⅜ teaspoon is a bit hard to measure. I measured it using a ¼ tsp measuring spoon, by scooping the ¼ tsp of salt, then added a half-filled ¼ teaspoon of salt.
The amount of salt required depends on the size of tomatoes as well as your palate. My tomato was 180g/6.3oz and I found that ⅜ teaspoon of salt was just right.
3. If I had mitsuba, I would have used it because it has a milder flavour than parsley, but it is out of season now. You can also use finely chopped green onions.
4. This will prevent the corn flour from becoming lumpy in the broth.
5. If you have a ladle with small holes, you could pour the egg through it instead of using chopsticks/fork.
6. Nutrition per serving.
serving: 318g calories: 136kcal fat: 8.9g (11%) saturated fat: 1.5g (8%) trans fat: 0.1g polyunsaturated fat: 1.7g monounsaturated fat: 4.8g cholesterol: 95mg (32%) sodium: 971mg (42%) carbohydrates: 5.9g (2%) dietary fibre: 1.1g (4%) sugar: 3.2g protein: 8.6g vitamin D: 1mcg (3%) calcium: 31mg (2%) iron: 0.8mg (5%) potassium: 521mg (11%)