Seaweed Egg Drop Soup

Chinese seaweed egg drop soup is a delicious and healthy soup made with Chinese seaweed, which is a dried seaweed called Zicai (紫菜), eggs, dried small shrimp, and scallions.

It’s a perfect meal for a cold winter day, within 10 minutes, this lovely soup can be finished. The combination of the seaweed flavor and the egg drop soup is quite comforting in winter.

I always love to make this soup whenever I don’t know which soup to serve because it is super fast and easy. Follow along to learn how to make the perfect seaweed egg drop soup with several steps.

Chinese Seaweed

Chinese seaweed, also known as Zicai meaning “purple vegetables”, is a type of dried seaweed that is often used in Chinese cuisine. It has a dark purple color and a slightly salty taste. Chinese seaweed is rich in nutrients, including iodine, iron, and calcium. I love to use it in soups like egg drop soups and wonton soups.

Each time, you only need to use a very small portion, this magic dried seaweed can bring great umami flavor to the soup. Although named a “purple vegetable”, the fresh Chinese seaweed might be green, red or even dark in different area. After long time sun-drying, it becomes either dark purple or dark brown because of the algal red element.

Buying tips

Chinese seaweed may be quite common in most of the Asian stores. When choosing , look for seaweed that is dark purple in color with a natural luster. High quality dried seaweed has a very lovely luster. Avoid those are completely dark or super red.

Note: Chinese seaweed is different from the Korean salted version.

Tips for tender egg drop flower

This is my newest way of making egg drop flower and it creates super egg drop flower. It is nothing about adding some extra starch or something else. The key is the fire.
1) Bring the water or stock to a boil and then turn off the fire.
2) Wait until the water don’t seethe anymore, add the egg drop by swirling (give them some space to expand). Don’t heat it again.

🥣What will be needed

• high quality Chinese seaweed– not too much 10g will be enough.
• 2 eggs– eggs not only provide the lovely flavors but also the fabulous yellow color.
• scallions- for extra flavor and lovely green color
• Small dried shrimp– this is commonly used in a classic Chinese version, feel free to skip it if hard to find.
• small piece of ginger– smashed
• soy sauce– more umami flavors.
• salt and pepper– to taste, providing a very basic flavor .
• sesame oil – a must in this Chinese seaweed soup, adds fabulous flavors from oil.
• water – or you can improve the flavor by using stock. But this soup with water is delicious enough.

Video

Instructions

Add the seaweed in the serving bowl, add chopped scallions, coriander, dried shrimp, sesame oil, salt and pepper in the bowl too.

Make sure you buy high quality dried seaweed don’t require wash before using. Read the instructions on the package to see whether you need to wash it or not. Add the dried seaweed in the serving bowl too.

Whisk egg with a small pinch of salt and pepper.

Add water to a pan or wok, around 6 cups of water with smashed ginger. Bring to a boil and then turn off the fire. Pour the egg liquid in by swirling. You will see the lovely flower in the pan.

Pour the egg flower directly to the serving bowl. The remaining heat will stimulate the aroma immediately.