Egg Drop Vs Wonton Soup: What's The Difference?

Look at a menu at any Chinese-American eatery across the United States, and two starters that are almost guaranteed to always be listed are egg drop and wonton soups. Despite their staple-status on a plethora of menus, the soups are quite different when it comes to the core ingredients. Sure, they're both brothy, warm, and often served with those crunchy wonton strips, but a spoonful of either promises a different flavor and texture experience.

We'll get into the many differences between the two soups soon enough, but let's start with the main differences. Wonton soup is one of the Chinese dishes you must try at least once, mainly because of the meat-filled wontons that float in the bowl. On the other hand, egg drop soup might have wontons but focuses on an eggy broth that joins the pork or beef-filled dumplings in the takeout container. Of course, you can spice up either with a packet of hot sauce, add in some duck sauce for sweetness, and expect those plastic quart containers for either option.

You might have seen egg drop soup on your local Chinese eatery's menu and been put off by eggs being in, well, soup. The truth is that the eggs give the soup a silky texture with a hint of egg flavor that melds well with the broth and wontons. There's even a tip to make silky egg drop soup with indirect heat if you want to make it at home. Traditionally, the soup consists of chicken broth, soy sauce for umami, a thickener like cornstarch, and a garnish of fresh chives to finish. Sometimes wontons make it into the bowl, especially at Chinese-American restaurants. However, wontons are not necessarily true to a classic rendition of the soup.

Rumors are that egg drop soup originated in Cantonese imperial courts, where chefs would show off their skills by turning eggs into a silky soup. These days, it can be found in regions across China and in Chinese eateries around the world. You might find other garnishes and ingredients like ginger, tofu, or bean sprouts depending on which region it's inspired by. And if you want to eat it at home, try our 15-minute homemade egg drop soup recipe.

Wonton soup does have many similar ingredients to egg drop soup. For example, it also contains a base of chicken broth along with ginger, soy sauce, and sometimes herbs like chives or green onions. Some versions might add bok choy, mushrooms, or bean sprouts. However, wonton soup must contain wontons (it's in the name of the dish, after all). The soup is often associated with Cantonese cuisine, and those wontons typically have a pork or pork-and-shrimp filling, but the fillings can vary by region or recipe.

The popular Chinese soup dates back to the Tang Dynasty in Northern China and has many variations. In Hong Kong, for example, it's common to find this soup as a street food and in casual restaurants today; you've probably already eaten wonton soup at your local Chinese spot many times. It's also relatively simple to make at home with our easy wonton soup recipe.

The main component that sets egg drop soup apart from wonton soup and other brothy Chinese dishes is the use of eggs. The Chinese term for the dish even translates to something like egg flower soup due to the ingredients and technique used to pull it off. The eggs aren't scrambled or boiled and used as a garnish, however. The trick is for the raw, beaten eggs to be whisked or swirled into the broth, which should result in a silky consistency if done correctly.

The English name, egg drop soup, is because you drop (or pour) the aforementioned raw egg into the broth on the stovetop. Depending on the recipe, it might have only whole eggs or a combination of those and extra yolks to fine tune the consistency. Sometimes, the eggs are whisked with water first to help create that flowering effect we mentioned before. Regardless, eggs must go into egg drop soup, unlike wontons, which are optional for this dish. To switch it up, add noodles to egg drop soup for a heartier meal.

In the same way that egg drop soup must contain its namesake ingredient, wonton soup must have wontons — that's the biggest difference between the two Chinese soups. The wonton wrappers are typically filled with pork or a combination of pork and shrimp, but you might also come across a version with Shanghai wontons, which often pair pork with a vegetable, like bok choy. Other ingredients that go into the filling might include brown sugar, white pepper, oyster sauce, or sesame oil. And in case you're wondering, there are differences between wontons and dumplings, and it has to do with the thickness of the wrappers and the shape.

Most of the time, the wontons will be handmade. Even recipes for a homemade wonton soup feature instructions on how to fill wontons and make them from scratch. Store-bought wonton wrappers make it easier to do so. However, you can use store-bought frozen wontons or other dumpling varieties to make this soup even easier.