Thai Turkey Cold Busting Hot and Sour Egg Drop Soup

Fight colds with this Hot and Sour Thai-seasoned Turkey, Carrot, and Rice Egg Drop Soup

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When I was in nursing school, in a previous life, Hot and Sour Soup became my magical cure-all for any bugs picked up at the hospital that threatened to take me down.  I'd swing by my favorite Chinese restaurant and pick up a quart when I first felt a tickle in my throat, and usually by the time I'd consumed the container I was right as rain.

Of course I've moved far away from that restaurant, and had good and not as good Hot and Sour Soups in the intervening lives years.

This soup is emphatically NOT a traditional version of Chinese Restaurant Hot and Sour Soup.  Instead, it's got the hot and sour-ness that I crave when I'm sick, coupled with the consistency of egg drop soup that soothes my throat, along with carrots and rice that comfort me like a good bowl of chicken soup should.  Except this is made with a turkey carcass.  Yes, part of my Thanksgiving turkey carcass if you must know.

This is an excellent reason to save your Thanksgiving turkey carcass in your freezer until you're ready for it.  No sense wasting it on some day-after-Thanksgiving soup when you've got amazing leftovers still in the fridge.  No, save that turkey carcass, along with the bits and bobs of vegetables collected in your Soup Pack, for a Real Need.

I made this soup while in Real Need for Soup.  While I was sharing sunny orange recipes here during HashtagOrangeWeek recently, I was sneezing and hacking my way around the Disney World Parks in Florida.  As if being sick wasn't enough, we traveled to/from Florida in a plane and my ears went wrong shortly after take off and still weren't right a week after returning home.  Add to all of the above I had a cough that made me gag and, well, if you've had kids then you know there are . . . consequences . . . when you are walking around having coughing attacks.  So there I am at Disney, sneezing, coughing, and consequencing all over the place, and hoping to survive the flight home so I could make soup. /rant

Thanking again my well-stocked pantry, I slept in (love my bed) and started this soup the day after I got home.  I was inspired by Lydia's Quick and Easy Hot and Sour Soup with Tofu, Shiitake Mushrooms and Noodles and Tyler Florence's Hot and Sour Soup. Now, normally I like the hands off approach of slow cooker soup stock, throwing everything into the crock pot for a day/night before straining and using.  And while that technique is awesome, there is one drawback--in a slow cooker you don't get the flavor concentration from evaporation like you do in an uncovered stock pot on the stove top.  I cooked this stock for 4 hours on the stove top, until it was reduced by about half [and took a picture so you could see**] then called it good.  Using mostly fridge and freezer items I threw together the rest of the soup, snapped some more photos, and we enjoyed a late lunch.  I was fortified for the rest of the day. And then a few more thanks to the awesome leftovers.

If you're looking for the cold-busting properties of a bowl of hot and sour soup, the consistency of egg drop soup, the comfort of a poultry-filled carrot and rice soup--this recipe is for you.


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Note:  If you don't have a turkey carcass, you can simmer the Thai spices and leeks with prepared chicken broth for 30 minutes then keep on going with the soup. I'd leave out the salt, though, until you're ready to finish the soup as I never know how salted prepared chicken broth can be.

Ignore the corn starch--once I did the egg drop thing I didn't need it.

NOTE: This recipe is not gluten free as written, because I used soy sauce. To adapt this recipe for a gluten free diet please substitute tamari, coconut aminos, or another gluten free soy sauce substitute.
Check labels to confirm that your other ingredients are also gluten free. Good sources for determining gluten free products can be found here:
http://knowgluten.me/2012/03/31/other-names-for-gluten/
http://glutenfreedoctor.com/gluten-free/
http://www.celiac.com/categories/Safe-Gluten%252dFree-Food-List-%7B47%7D-Unsafe-Foods-%26amp%3B-Ingredients/

Thai Turkey Cold Busting Hot and Sour Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients for the Thai turkey stock (4 hours, or overnight in a slow cooker)

• ½ turkey carcass
• 2 Tablespoons lemongrass
• 2 Tablespoons galangal
• 2 Tablespoons kaffir lime leaves
• 2 Tablespoons Thai basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped leeks (or onions, or shallots, what you've got)

Instructions to make the Thai turkey stock

1. In a large heavy bottomed pot (I use my 7 quart pretty purple pot--Amazon affiliate link) combine turkey carcass (frozen solid is just fine), Thai spices, peppercorns, salt and leeks (coincidentally, they were frozen as well--very productive fat and sassy leeks from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share so I sliced and froze them when I was overwhelmed).  Cover with water.  
2. Bring to a slow simmer over medium high heat, and simmer for 4 hours until liquid is reduced by half as shown below.  Strain stock in a colander.  You'll need 2 quarts for the soup.

Ingredients for the soup (takes 30 minutes once you've got the stock made)

• 2 quarts Thai turkey stock
• ½ cup jasmine rice (we just watched Aladdin, so I want to capitalize Jasmine)
• 1 ½ cups finely shredded carrot
• 2 teaspoons ginger (I use paste)
• 3 cloves roasted garlic, smashed (here's how I roast and put up my garlic crop)
• ¼ cup soy sauce (or soy sauce equivalent of your choice)
• ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• ½ teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
• ½ teaspoon pepper (or more to taste)
• 1 and ½ teaspoons sriracha (or more to taste)
• 2 cups chopped turkey meat
• 1 egg, beaten
• cilantro for garnish

Instructions to make the Thai Turkey Hot & Sour Egg Drop Soup

1. In a slightly smaller pot (or, you know, wash the big one if you feel up to it) combine 2 quarts turkey stock, rice, carrot, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, turmeric, salt, pepper, and sriracha.  
2. Stir in turkey. Simmer for 30 minutes.  Taste and see if you need more salt, more pepper, or more heat from the sriracha and adjust the seasonings accordingly.  
3. When it tastes right to you, remove the pot from the heat and stir it to get the soup spinning in one direction.  While stirring, pour the beaten egg in a thin stream into the soup.  
4. The heat will cook it pretty much instantly, and render the consistency of the soup thicker, like egg drop soup. Yum!  Serve with fresh cilantro.

**Reduced by half.

Other soups you may be interested in:
Flu Fighter Chicken Stock from Everyday Maven
Thai-inspired Vegetable Soup from Clean Eats Fast Feets
Thai-inspired Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup (by me)

This post is shared with Tasty Tuesdays, What's Cookin' Wednesday, Fresh Foods Wednesday, From the Farm Blog Hop, Clever Chicks Blog Hop