Egg drop soup with sweetcorn

Post dated entry from Sunday 16/01/11

What ho egg-olomaniacs! A hearty apology for the tardiness of this little snippet from the world of eggs. It has often been said that when one catches Alan Coutts egg in hand one catches him at his best and this blustery sunday was no exception. It found me pondering the saddening decline in fashion of Chinese food and  the maddening ubiquity of pub thai. I said to myself that the rot has to stop and the plucky Chinese egg deserves a  renaissance.  It was with this in mind that I consulted with my old friend Ken Hom. Kenneth is a good sort in my books, this opinion  bolstered by the fact that the old  bird is no stranger to a spot of sherry; although I hasten to add to the herbivorous amongst us that he is at times a bit of a stranger to the legume. Consequently one must ,when abaft the wok, deviate from his esteemed directions when catering for those of the vegetarian persuasion. I consulted his oeuvre regarding chicken and sweetcorn soup, and crab meat soup, and melanged the two (minus the flesh of course). The result was a thick and hearty egg and sweet corn broth which warmed our cockles and put the colour back in our cheeks after a bracing ramble on the Sussex downs. It might be added that the phrase ramble could be easily be replaced by the phrase 'getting bally well lost'. I often remark to myself what a boon it is that the downs offers one the illusion of wilderness while one is never further than a mile or so from a J Sainsburys. Toodle pip for now chums all.

P.S here is a little east meets west ditty from the musical theatre with which to aid digestion

Recipe

 serves 4

1 x small tin of canned sweet corn

1 x egg

1.2 litres strong veg stock

1 x tablespoon dry sherry

1x tablespoon dark soy sauce

2x tea spoons ginger finely chopped

pinch of salt

quick grind of pepper

1 x tea spoon of sugar

1 x table spoon of corn flour mixed with 2x table spoons water

2 x spring onions roughly chopped

Directions

1) Bring the stock to the boil in a large pan then add the corn. simmer for 10 mins

2) Add the rest  of the ingredients and minus the onions and egg and bring back to the boil  then simmer

3) Add the egg stirring slowly to create eggy ribbons

4) Finally add the spring onions to garnish and serve pipping hot

The Results

Marking Category	Hannah	Alan
Presentation	1.5	2
Innovation	4	3.5
Quality of egg	4	3.5
Taste	3.5	4.5
Total	13	13.5

Comments

Alan :

I was pleased with the results. I thought the replacement of the chicken stock with veg may have spelt disaster however I was pleasently surprised. 

Hannah: 

I was a little upset that Alan didn't wait for chinese new year but I enjoyed it very much.  A nice light healthy alternative to some of the recipes that we have been having of late.