Chinese Seaweed Soup

Chinese seaweed soup is a delicious and healthy soup made with Chinese seaweed, which is a dried seaweed called Zicai (紫菜), eggs, dried small shrimp and scallions. It's a perfect meal for a cold winter day, within 10 minutes, this lovely soup can be finished. The combination of the seaweed flavor and the egg drop soup is quite comforting in winter. Quick Reading What's Chinese Seaweed? Chinese seaweed, also known as Zicai meaning "purple vegetables", is a type of dried seaweed that is often used in Chinese cuisine. It has a dark purple color and a slightly salty taste. Chinese seaweed is rich in nutrients, including iodine, iron, and calcium. And it is widely used in soups like this simple egg drop soup and wonton soups. With only a very small portion, this magic dried seaweed can bring great umami flavor to the soup. Although named as "purple vegetable", the fresh Chinese seaweed might be green, red or even dark in different area. After long time sun-drying, it becomes either dark purple or dark brown because of the algal red element. Find the purple color of this dried seaweed Buying tips Chinese seaweed may be quite common in most of the Asian stores. When choosing , look for seaweed that is dark purple in color with a natural luster. High quality dried seaweed has a very lovely luster. Avoid those are completely dark or super red. Note: Chinese seaweed is different from the Korean salted version. Tips for super tender egg drop flower This is my newest way of making egg drop flower and it creates super egg drop flower. It is nothing about adding some extra starch or something else. The key is the fire. 1) Bring the water or stock to a boiling and then turn off the fire.2) Wait until the water don't seethe anymore, add the egg drop by swirling (give them some space to expand). Don't heat it again.