Today I’d like to share a refreshing and delicious soup – Cucumber, Egg, and Shrimp Ball Soup. It’s low?fat, tasty, and perfect for the current season!
Steps：
1. Prepare the ingredients. Thaw frozen shrimp in advance and rinse them clean. Cut scallion whites into sections, mince the scallion greens, and peel and slice ginger.
2. Mince the shrimp into a paste. Beat the eggs and reserve half an egg white. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, then slice thinly.
3. In a bowl with the minced shrimp, add 1 tablespoon of starch, the reserved half egg white, a pinch of salt, and some white pepper. Stir vigorously in one direction until the mixture becomes sticky and springy.
4. Heat oil in a pot and scramble the eggs. Do not use high heat; medium?heat scrambling keeps the eggs tender.
5. Push the scrambled eggs to one side of the pot. In the remaining oil, sauté the scallion whites and ginger slices until fragrant.
6. Add boiling water and bring to a boil. Let it cook for 2 minutes to draw out the savory flavor from the eggs.
7. Drop the shrimp paste into the soup using a spoon, or use chopsticks to slide it in like making dough drops (similar to “mian yu”).
8. When the shrimp balls float to the surface, add the cucumber slices. Do not add the cucumber too early, or it will become too soft.
9. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt (adjust to taste) and a little white pepper.
10. Turn off the heat, sprinkle with chopped scallion greens, and serve. Enjoy this super savory and fresh soup!
Tips：
Using fresh whole shrimp (peeled) for the shrimp paste yields a fresher taste than frozen shrimp, but frozen shrimp works fine as well.
There is no need to remove the scrambled eggs from the pot; adding boiling water directly to them makes the soup even more flavorful.
You can substitute cucumber with tomato, or add various mushrooms – they all make a nutritious and delicious soup with shrimp balls.