A – A lovingly assembled list of soup recipes using eggs rather than chicken. As suggested by the Hen herself.
B – Bacon & Egg Soup: Make broth. Cook bacon, cut into cubes. Toss bread cubes with olive oil on a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper. Bake until golden. Add garlic to bacon drippings and cook. Add broth, water, parmesan rind and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Adjust the heat so the broth is barely boiling. One at a time, crack each egg into a small bowl and gently slip into the broth. Poach until just set. Transfer the eggs with a slotted spoon to individual soup bowls. Stir 1 cup parmesan and 2 tablespoons parsley into the broth and season with salt and pepper. Ladle the broth into the bowls and top with the croutons, bacon and the remaining parmesan. Enjoy! (Recipe Courtesy of Food Network Kitchen.)
C – Cheese. Mix egg and hard parmesan cheese. Slowly drizzle into broth.
D – Danish Cold Buttermilk Soup (KOLDSKÅL): Simply whisk together: egg yolks, plain yogurt, buttermilk, cane sugar, vanilla bean and lemon juice. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh strawberries for a refreshing snack on a hot day.
E –Egg Drop Soup, scrambled: a spinoff of traditional egg drop soup. Scramble eggs with cheese, nutmeg and pepper. When broth comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and add the eggs into the pot.
F – Frothed egg whites used as a soup thickener. In Greece, hot broth is tempered into the yolk and then mixed with lemon and the white froth is added to soups.
G – Gazpacho Soup: plum tomatoes, lime juice, garlic, honey, thyme, paprika, olive oil, salt & pepper. Garnish with diced hard-boiled eggs, cucumbers, onions and peppers. Serve cold.
H – Hot Etor Soup from Ghana: Ripened plantain-boiled and mashed, pepper – boiled and ground in with onions, palm oil, salted fish – ground up, roasted peanuts – ground up, peel of the plantain, cut into pieces and boiled, salt to taste. Garnish with whole boiled eggs, sliced avocado and roasted peanuts.
I – Irish Eggs: not a soup but too good a recipe to pass up: Combine mashed potatoes, beaten eggs, garlic, salt, mustard, rosemary and cracker crumbs mixing thoroughly. Divide the potato mixture into 6 portions. Press eggs into each portion making sure the egg is covered completely. Deep fry in oil at 350 degrees until golden brown.
J – Jewish Salty Egg Soup: In a large bowl, mash the eggs roughly with a potato masher. Add 4 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of salt. Add additional water and salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. Ladle into soup bowls.
K – Kale & Eggs Soup is a vegetable stock base loaded with potatoes, kale, onions, carrots, celery and poached eggs. The soup is prepared first. Next the eggs are carefully cracked and added on top, then submerged and poached in the soup.
L – Latin American ‘Changua’ Milk & Eggs soup, also referred to as ‘hangover soup’, made with milk, eggs, cilantro, scallions all cooked together with coarsely chopped kosher salt and pepper. Served for breakfast with bread for dipping.
M – Mayo with emulsified egg (oil or hollandaise) added to soup after is has cooled, adds texture and flavor.
N – Nog – how could I get to the letter “N” and not include my Dad’s famous Egg Nog recipe! 12 egg yolks, 12 egg whites, a pound of powdered sugar, half pint of light rum and peach brandy, a full pint of brandy and heavy cream and three pints of milk. All but the egg whites get whisked together. The whites are whipped and folded in. A dash of nutmeg on the top makes it the perfect desert “soup”.
O – Onion Tomato Soup with Egg Dumplings: A combination of classic French onion and tomato soups. Once the dumplings are made, bring the soup back to a boil and add the egg dumplings. The dumplings cook in the soup.
P – Pancake Soup (FLÄDLESUPPE) was only one of many soups served in German Monasteries throughout the middle ages. Beef or vegetable broth poured over rolled and sliced crepes topped with chives and pepper.
Q – Qatar is a small Middle Eastern country on the east coast of Saudi Arabia just below Bahrain and ranks as one of the richest countries in the world. I could not find soups with eggs but these are a few breakfast foods eaten with eggs and coffee: pita, feta cheese with olive oil, and labna, which is like a thick yogurt with olive oil. Food is mostly eaten with the hands in Qatar, and you use the pita bread like a scoop.
R –Rwandan hard-boiled eggs. Though not a soup, I found this very interesting: “A street food snack. Vendors walk around with a bucket of hard-boiled eggs that they sell for about $.25 each. What makes them special is the sauce they are served with called Akabanga. It is a chili oil that comes in a dropper bottle. All you need is one or two drops of this fiery chili oil to transform your hard-boiled eggs into a taste of Rwanda.” (March 28, 2019, Darlene at International Cuisine).
S – Shakshouka is a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion and garlic, and commonly spiced with cumin, paprika, cayenne and has a stew-like consistency.
T – Turkish Yogurt Soup (Yayla Çorbasi): Mix yogurt, egg and flour and salt in a bowl. Add more water to the cooked rice and stir well. Take the rice off the heat. Using a ladle, slowly add a few ladles of that rice and water mixture to the yogurt and egg mixture. Stir well.
U – Udon Soup with Bok Choy and Poached Eggs is made with veggie broth. Exact origin unknown, although there are several claims that Udon came from China in the 700s. In Japan: 2 anise pods, a cinnamon stick, scallions and soy sauce are added.
V – Vodka and Eggs? ‘Amber Moon’ – cocktail containing tabasco sauce, a raw egg and vodka.
W – Whites. Egg whites in soup, to clarify rather than thicken. Also used in cocktails for the same reason.
X – Xigua (watermelon in Chinese), Eggs Machiavellion inspired by “The Sims 3”. Eggs over easy with pan grilled watermelon flavored with parmesan cheese.
Y – Yolk Soup: Same idea as Egg Drop Soup but uses raw yolks, no whites. Only successful with Organic Pasture Raised or eggs from organic pasture raised chickens: “Raw eggs, as opposed to cooked, are packed with healthy protein and a variety of vitamins, minerals, and loads of vitamins like A, D, B2, B6, B9, B12, iron, and zinc. Not to mention omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, making them a great food in a healthy diet. When eggs are used raw they retain all of this natural goodness. When cooked, some of the omegas and vitamins are retained, but at least 1/4 are lost in the cooking process.” (Gemma Stafford. May 28, 2019)
Z – Zurek from Poland: Soup containing hard boiled eggs, kielbasa and the main ingredient, soured rye flour.
There you have it! Grab a spoon….. and your appetite, and dig in!
Cindy Bezanson