Ginger Crab Soup

The other night my housemate L. made a delicious soup.  It smelled so good  that I ended up being a backseat cook, hovering around the stove and taking pictures and notes in order to recreate it in the future.

The version she made used real crab, but she says that it’s equally good with the much cheaper “crab” sticks that you often see in California rolls.  We left out the cooking wine because we didn’t feel like buying a whole bottle for a single recipe. It still tasted great, though.

Ginger + crab = awesome.

Ginger Crab Soup

Tools

medium pot
stirring implement (wood spoons are always good)
decent chef’s knife or paring knife
cutting board

Ingredients

½ lb. crab meat, fresh or canned
4 slices ginger (root)
2 tomatoes, cut into 8 sections
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cups chicken broth
2 eggs
2 tbsp Sauterne wine
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
2 scallions, finely chopped
black pepper to taste

1) Slice up the ginger and tomatoes, followed by the scallions. Keep them somewhat separate from each other.

2) Heat the oil in the pot over medium heat. Add the ginger and saute until fragrant.

3) Add the tomatoes and the crab and saute for another 5 minutes. It should start smelling nice and crabby.

4) Add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for six minutes.

5) Meanwhile, beat the eggs. I recommend using a small bowl and the tines of a fork for this. Mix the wine, soy sauce, vinegar, scallions, and pepper into the beaten eggs.

6) After the soup has simmered for six minutes, pour in the egg mixture. To produce an egg drop effect, let the egg cook in the broth for about 30 seconds, or until it starts to turn opaque, before stirring it. Simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7) Serve hot and enjoy. Top with more chopped scallions and black pepper if you wish. The soup is gingery but mild, so add a few splashes of Sriracha if you want to up the heat factor.