The Ingredient Swap For A Thicker And Clearer Egg Drop Soup

For most of us, egg drop soup is an occasional part of our order at the neighborhood Chinese spot. But for those home cooks who really appreciate the soup, it's not terribly difficult to make at home, perhaps with the help of our 15-minute homemade egg drop soup recipe. To thicken the broth, most recipes call for corn starch — but we've got a strong case as to why you might want to use potato starch in the pot instead.

One of the reasons why potato starch can be a better choice is that it provides a clearer color, so the broth will be more transparent. Potato starch has finer grains and less fat content, which is why its color is clearer compared to corn starch. As a thickener, potato starch goes further than corn starch does, so it will thicken the soup with far less of the ingredient. Its flavor is also neutral so you don't have to worry about altering the taste of your homemade soup.

The most common way to incorporate potato starch or other thickeners into egg drop soup is to make a slurry. To do this, combine around five tablespoons of potato starch with seven tablespoons of water and mix to combine. Add the potato starch slurry to the pot after the stock, water, and other liquids like soy sauce come to a boil. Whisk it well until all of the thick slurry dissolves and combines with the soup base. If you aren't pleased with the thickness, add a little more slurry. And as always, you can skip the potato starch slurry if you prefer a thinner soup consistency — but you probably wouldn't be reading this if that were the case.

Why not keep switching it up with your homemade egg drop soup? For example, you only need a single ingredient to amp up egg drop soup: Egg noodles, ramen, or another variety. Keep in mind that the starch in the noodles will act as a thickener, so dial back the slurry to prevent an overly thick soup. Another option is to add tomatoes to egg drop soup for another variation of the Chinese dish. You can also toss in some of those frozen gyozas or potstickers in the freezer to bulk up your egg drop soup that's thickened with potato starch.