Ingredients and approximate cost
1 cube of chicken bouillon – $0.08
1 box of firm tofu – $2.30
1 pound of napa cabbage, cut into strips – $2.50
1 egg – $0.19
1 8oz box of button mushrooms, sliced – $2.00
1 tablespoon corn starch – minimal cost (you can also use flour. This is to thicken the soup a little)
Garnishes:
2 stalks green onion, thinly sliced – $0.25
red peppers or sichuan peppercorns – minimal cost
Optional: 1 packet of fried seitan or tofu puffs (found in Chinese supermarkets, image for reference here) – $3.00
Total cost: $7.32 – $10.32
Servings: 6
Cost per serving: $1.22 – 1.72
Cooking instructions
The reason why I am a big fan of using bouillon cubes is because they’re a very cheap and fast way of getting a pot of broth going without having to buy a heavy box of broth that would expire. This soup gets flavor mainly from the bouillon, but has chewy texture from the fried seitan / tofu puffs, with some crunchiness from the mushrooms.
- Chop up all the vegetables – strips for the napa cabbage, slice for the buttom mushrooms, and small bite-sized cubes for the tofu
- Using a large pot, add the bouillon to 3 quarts of water, heat until boiling
- Add the tofu, cabbage, mushroom, and seitan / tofu puffs, to the soup, allow it to continue cooking for about 5 minutes
- In the meantime, mix together the corn starch with a little bit of water, mix with your fingers until the starch has dissolved. Stir the starch into the soup slowly so that it does not become sticky clumps inside the soup
- Lower heat to simmer. Crack an egg in a bowl, beat it until it is mixed, then drop it into the soup. The egg should cook immediately into beautiful, thin egg-drop shapes
- Remove from heat. Serve with green onions and peppers sprinkled on top
Optional: Add hot sauce for more flavor
