Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chicken stock (or 2 cups chicken broth and 2 cups water)
• 2 large slices fresh ginger
• 2 large cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
• 1 Tbs cornstarch (I add a little more to increase thickness)
• 3 Tbs water
• 1 tsp salt (if using stock, do not add if using broth)
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 1-3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 2 scallions, diagonally sliced (i.e. spring/green onion)(opt.)
• 2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro (opt.)
• Shrimp (opt.)

Combine stock/broth-water, ginger and garlic in a large saucepan and simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes. Discard the ginger and garlic. In a small bowl stir together cornstarch and water. Bring soup to low simmer and add cornstarch mixture. Stir until the soup is slightly thickened. Stir in salt (unless using broth) and pepper. Whisk together egg and oil in small bowl. Remove soup from heat. Pour egg mixture through spokes of a fork 6 inches from soup while stirring soup in a big circle, one direction only (you'll need 3 hands for this or some clever ingenuity). Stir in scallions, cilantro and shrimp.