This simple tofu soup recipe gets sweetness from napa cabbage and richness from a few eggs. It is deliciously warm and comforting, and incredibly easy to make.
With just 11 ingredients—most of which you probably already have in your kitchen (stock, water, white pepper, sesame oil, salt), you can make a tasty tofu soup that’s actually both flavorful and filling!
Tofu & Napa Cabbage: A Winter Pairing
Napa cabbage and tofu are a great duo in Chinese cuisine, as they are often showcased together in winter meals. These two ingredients bring out the best in each other.
Napa cabbage is a hardy vegetable that can survive throughout winter. Moreover, its natural sweetness intensifies in the colder months. (Hardy vegetables develop sugars to resist frost.)
You can try it in some of our other napa cabbage recipes, like our Sichuan Napa Cabbage, Rice Cakes with Napa Cabbage & Porkand Pork Cabbage Potstickers.
For this soup, I like to cook the cabbage for a long time. The longer it cooks, the more flavorful it gets.
Tofu is another year-round staple. Admittedly, using the two of them in soups is nothing new. (See our Fish Tofu Soup). But the combination just works. The soft tofu and tender napa leaves are a great textural pairing as well.
More supermarkets are carrying napa cabbage these days, so this nourishing soup can be yours in a flash! If you have leftovers, all the better. This soup, like many others, tastes better the next day.
Fried Eggs in Soup?
Perhaps the most exciting technique in this soup is that of adding fried eggs to it. This is an idea that I have seen in several recipes on the Chinese internet.
Adding eggs to soup is very common in Chinese cooking, but those eggs are usually added while still raw, as in Egg Drop Soup, Hot & Sour Soup, Tomato Egg Noodle SoupWest Lake Soup (recipe in our cookbook!), or banquet-style seafood soups.
Adding them after frying them in a wok or pan first, however, keeps the soup brothy rather than thick, and also gives you bigger chunks of egg in the soup, similar to chunks of meat or seafood. The result is hearty and satisfying—and easy!
Another Secret:
Another key step in this soup? Keeping it at a rapid boil for 10 minutes, to achieve a milky broth, similar to a ramen broth!
While there are many tofu soups out there, we hope you enjoy this version.
Make this soup vegetarian
This recipe can easily be made vegetarian simply by substituting our Asian Vegetable Stock—or your preferred vegetable stock—for the chicken stock.
Tofu Soup Recipe Instructions
In a pot, bring the chicken stock and water to a boil. Once boiling, cover, and lower the heat to keep it simmering.
Meanwhile, place a medium soup pot or wok over medium-high heat until it’s hot enough that a small splash of water beads and dances along the cooking surface. (See our post on how to prevent sticking).
Once hot, add the oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Crack the eggs into the pot, and cook over medium-high heat until the eggs are browned around the edges (it is important to brown the egg well).
Flip the eggs over and do the same to the other side, making sure the eggs are cooked through completely. (Runny yolk will cloud the soup.)
Transfer the fried eggs onto a cutting board and cut into bite-size pieces. Return the egg pieces to the pot.
Increase the heat to high, and pour in the simmering stock/water, along with tofu and mushrooms (We used beech mushrooms, AKA bunashimeji mushrooms, but you can use oyster, button, cremini, shiitake—whatever mushroom you have on hand).
Cover and boil for 10 minutes over high heat. This will give the soup a rich milky appearance, similar to ramen broth:
Next, add the napa cabbage.
Cover and cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until the cabbage is very tender. Add the sesame oil, salt to taste, and white pepper.
Top with cilantro and/or scallion.
Serve!
Tofu Soup (An Easy Chinese Recipe!)
This simple Chinese tofu soup recipe is flavorful, filling, and easy, with just 11 basic ingredients—many of which you probably have already!
serves: 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Total: 45 minutes
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Instructions
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In a pot, bring the chicken stock and water to a boil. Once boiling, cover, and lower the heat to keep it simmering. Meanwhile, place a medium soup pot or wok over medium-high heat until it’s hot enough that a small splash of water beads and dances along the cooking surface.
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Once hot, add the oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Crack the eggs into the pot, and cook over medium-high heat until the eggs are browned around the edges (it is important to brown the egg well). Flip the eggs over and do the same to the other side, making sure the eggs are cooked through completely. (Runny yolk will cloud the soup.)
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Transfer the fried eggs onto a cutting board and cut into bite-size pieces. Return the egg pieces to the pot. Increase the heat to high, and pour in the simmering stock/water, along with tofu and mushrooms. Cover and boil for 10 minutes over high heat.
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Next, add the napa cabbage. Cover and cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until the cabbage is very tender. Add the sesame oil, salt to taste, and white pepper. Top with cilantro and/or scallion and serve.
nutrition facts
Calories: 237kcal (12%) Carbohydrates: 10g (3%) Protein: 16g (32%) Fat: 16g (25%) Saturated Fat: 3g (15%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g Monounsaturated Fat: 7g Trans Fat: 0.04g Cholesterol: 123mg (41%) Sodium: 432mg (18%) Potassium: 728mg (21%) Fiber: 1g (4%) Sugar: 4g (4%) Vitamin A: 516IU (10%) Vitamin C: 24mg (29%) Calcium: 136mg (14%) Iron: 2mg (11%)
