Bulky Soup With Leftover Egg Whites
My father has many chickens , all named after his favorite church ladies, and these hens were layers . This means that I was getting a constant stream of beautiful fresh eggs with very brightly colored golden yolks, and they ruined me for eggs from the grocery store.
Eggs are (obviously) fine if fried whole in a lot of oil , but I’m obsessed with those yolks and what they do with the custard. I made sweet ice cream and banana pudding with them and both came out so yellow you’d think I had added food coloring. This custard accent resulted in a few delicious treats, but left me with a surplus of egg whites. I also plan on curing quite a few nearly orange balls, which will only increase my egg white supply.
Egg whites have two health benefits: structure and protein. I mainly use them to give my body meringues, pavlov and acidic foods , but I can only eat a certain amount of the first two, and I just don’t drink enough for the latter to be an effective strategy for consuming egg white. I would never recommend anyone make or eat an egg white omelet (aka the weirdo omelet), but all that extra protein is perfectly welcome in a broth bowl of soup.
Before we get into how we do this, I must emphasize that egg whites added to hot broth will not make egg drip soup. While this step was definitely inspired by the egg drop soup, I don’t think I am claiming it to be. Egg Drop Soup is a completely cooked dish and is more of a way to get some extra protein by using excess egg whites (without having to make a disheartening omelet).
I already store my egg whites in restaurant-style pomace bottles , making them easy to pour and measure for cocktails, and this bottle also turns out to be the best tool for adding protein to soup, although you can also pour them from a spewing cup in a thin, steady trickle. All you need to do is bring the broth or soup to a boil, sprinkle the bubbling spots on the whites, then remove the pan from the burner and stir to create tender, tender bunches of egg white. Try it with plain chicken stock, vegetable stock soup, instant ramen, or a casserole of beans stew. Don’t call it “egg drop soup” – you need whole eggs for that.