This soup, although commonly served in Chinese households, is very unique in its texture and technique. Firstly, it uses a very unique vegetable called luffa (or loofah), which looks like a huge cucumber, or a green coloured radish, but is very soft when sliced into. When cooked, it becomes very soft and sweet. It is also a nice substitute for bitter gourd in stir-fried dishes if you are not a fan of the bitter vegetable.
Also, instead of stirring the beaten egg while pouring it into the soup to form ribbons in the soup as you would when preparing Egg Drop Soup, you leave the egg alone in this recipe after pouring it into the soup so that the egg can puff up while it cooks and achieve a cloud-like formation. The soup remains clear and the tastes of the luffa comes through more strongly as well.
This soup works very well when you need to whip up something fast because the luffa doesn’t take long to cook at all. There’s protein (egg and prawn) and vegetables (luffa) so it makes for a complete meal in itself too!
Ingredients:
- Oil: 1 tbsp
- Garlic: 1 clove, finely chopped
- Shallot: 3, finely sliced
- Prawn: 50g (about 5), deshelled & deveined
- Water: 500ml
- Salt: 1 tsp
- Luffa: 150g (about half of one), peeled & cut into triangular slices
- Egg: 1, beaten
- Ground white pepper: to taste
Method:
- Heat oil in saucepan. Fry garlic and shallot till browned.
- Add prawns. Fry till cooked.
- Add water & salt. Bring to boil.
- Add luffa. Simmer 5min till tender.
- Pour egg in but don’t stir. Leave to simmer 1min.
- Switch off heat. Add white pepper.
- Serve hot with rice.
Trick:
- Remember NOT to stir the soup when pouring the egg in!
Serving:
2 – 3 persons
