Japanese Egg Drop Soup, or Kakitamajiru, is a delicious and homey soup that will warm you right up! Made with dashi broth and fluffy egg ribbons, it is everything you crave in a bowl of soup: delicate, flavorful, and restorative. Ready in 15 minutes!
Soup is a significant part of the Japanese meal, especially when serving Ichiju Sansai (一汁三菜; one soup three dishes) during family dinner. The meal typically includes steamed rice, the main protein, a few veggies or side dishes, and a soup.
In addition to the quintessential miso soup, we also enjoy many different types of clear soups. Today I’d like to introduce Japanese Egg Drop Soup or Kakitamajiru (かきたま汁), a flavorful egg drop soup that uses minimal pantry ingredients. It’s quick and simple, and you’re going to love it!
Table of Contents
What is Japanese Egg Drop Soup?
You might be more familiar with Chinese egg drop soup (sometimes referred to as egg flower soup) because it is almost a prerequisite in many Chinese restaurants and Asian takeouts. However, did you know that egg drop soup is also common in Japanese home cooking? Both Japanese and Chinese styles are indeed very similar to each other, as they both feature fluffy egg ribbons.
This Japanese version of egg drop soup is known as Kakitamajiru. Kaki (掻き) means to scratch, rake, or sometimes includes the stirring motion, and tama (たま) comes from ‘tamago’ (たまご), meaning egg in Japanese. Jiru (汁) means soup.
Japanese vs. Chinese Egg Drop Soup
Here are some quick generic differences:
Japanese egg drop soup
- Use dashi (Japanese soup stock) as the soup base.
- It has a much lighter consistency, sometimes barely noticeable.
- Use potato starch to thicken.
- Always include soy sauce.
- Garnish with mitsuba (Japanese wild parsley). You can also use scallions as I did in this recipe.
Chinese egg drop soup
- Use chicken broth or chicken stock.
- It has a thick consistency and sometimes turmeric is added for a rich yellow color.
- Use cornstarch slurry to thicken.
- Typical add-ons include julienned ginger, garlic, sweet corn kernels, and sometimes chives as garnish.
- It is flavored with sesame oil and white pepper as the final touches.
Ingredients for Japanese Egg Drop Soup
The best thing about kakitamajiru is that these 5 ingredients are most likely already in your kitchen. I call it my pantry soup!
- Dashi (Japanese soup stock) – You can make homemade Awase Dashi or use a Dashi Packet for a quick shortcut. For a plant-based option, use Kombu Dashi and Vegan Dashi.
- Egg(s)
- Potato starch or cornstarch
- Soy sauce – I use light-colored usukuchi shoyu, but you can use regular Japanese soy sauce.
- Sake – A little bit of it adds nice umami.
And pinches of salt to emphasize the flavors and bring everything together.
Jump to RecipeHow to Make Easy Egg Drop Soup
- In a saucepan, add the dashi and seasonings and bring it to a simmer.
- Once simmering, thicken the soup with potato starch mixture.
- Slowly drizzle beaten eggs into the soup. Read the recipe below for detailed tips! Top the soup with chopped green onions and serve immediately.
Various Add-On Ingredients
You can certainly throw in some other ingredients to bulk it up. Here are some common options; however, I recommend keeping the soup rather simple by adding just one additional ingredient besides the egg. The soup is best enjoyed for its simplicity
- Green onion/scallion – I used it in today’s recipe.
- Kaiware daikon radishes
- Japanese mushrooms such as enoki, shiitake, shimeji, etc.
- Wakame seaweed
- Silken/soft tofu
- Julienned carrot
Egg Drop Soup Cooking Tips
- Use good dashi. I understand this is a basic tip, but if you want to make a delicious soup, the base stock is crucial. Here, we use dashi. Avoid using dashi powder when making egg drop soup, as the flavor tends to disappear quickly. Instead, make it from scratch or use a dashi packet.
- Check the flavor of the soup before adding the egg. Oftentimes, when relying on a recipe, you may forget to taste what you’re cooking. It’s important to taste and adjust the taste of the soup before adding the beaten egg. Once the egg is added, do not touch the soup. We don’t want to break the fluffy egg ribbons.
- Whisk the starch mixture one last time before adding to the soup because the starch tends to settle at the bottom of the bowl.
- Drizzle slowly, using a chopstick as a guide. We use a long cooking chopstick as a guide to drizzle the beaten egg from a bowl (or measuring cup). Why drizzle slowly? As soon as the egg hits the hot broth, it should curl up and float. If you pour in too much, the beaten egg becomes heavy and drops to the bottom of the pot. Drizzle slowly as you move across the soup, providing plenty of space for the egg to bloom. Let the egg sit for a few quick seconds, and the soup is ready to be enjoyed!
What to Serve with Egg Drop Soup
You can serve this delicious soup as a light entrée or as a side dish to accompany Chuka Ryori (Japanese-Chinese Dishes) or other Chinese and Asian fares. Here are some of my favorites:
- Quick & Tasty Fried Rice
- Mapo Tofu
- Beef and Green Pepper Stir-Fry
- Spicy Shrimp Stir-Fry
- Pork Kimchi Stir-Fry
How to Store Egg Drop Soup
You can store the leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The best way to reheat the soup is to warm it up in a pot on the stovetop until hot, stirring occasionally. If you prefer to microwave the soup, do it in 20-second intervals so the eggs won’t be overcooked.
I don’t recommend storing it in the freezer.
More Delicious Soup Recipes
- Classic Wonton Soup with Shrimp and Pork
- Vegetable Miso Soup
- Japanese Clear Clam Soup
- Kabocha Miso Soup
- Kenchinjiru (Japanese Vegetable Soup)
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Japanese Egg Drop Soup (Kakitamajiru)
Ingredients
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell)
- 2 tsp water
- 1 tsp potato starch or cornstarch
- 2 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
- 2 tsp sake
- ¼–½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tsp soy sauce
For the Garnish
- 1 green onion/scallion
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. I recommend making this dish right before you serve.
- Beat 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) in a bowl or measuring cup. Cut 1 green onion/scallion into thin, round pieces.
- In a small bowl, mix together 2 tsp water and 1 tsp potato starch or cornstarch to make a slurry. As the starch tends to sink to the bottom of the bowl, you will need to mix it again right before you use it.
- To a saucepan, add 2 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock), 2 tsp sake, and ¼–½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- Add 1 tsp soy sauce. Check the flavor and adjust with more salt, if needed. Then, bring it to a simmer on medium heat. When simmering, give the slurry mixture another whisk and add it to the dashi.
- Stir quickly to distribute the slurry into the dashi. Bring it to a simmer.
- Once simmering (small bubbles will appear around the edges), slowly pour a thin stream of the beaten egg into the soup in circular pattern, starting from the center and spiraling outward (don‘t pour in the same area). Place your cooking chopstick at the edge of the bowl/measuring cup so the egg will drizzle down the chopstick in a thin stream. Let the egg sit for 20–25 seconds. Then, remove the saucepan from the heat to prevent overcooking.
To Serve
- Serve the soup in individual bowls and garnish with green onion. Enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container or in the saucepan for up to 3 days. Reheat until warm, but do not let the soup boil.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on February 11, 20221. It was republished with more information on March 4, 2024.
Finally got my hands on some Dashi powder and made this to test it out! It’s easy to make, simple, and so satisfying… I’ll definitely be making it again!
Hi Zairah! Fantastic!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!🥰
can i add miso paste
Hi Ahsan! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
Sure, you can add miso paste. However, we recommend adjusting the soy sauce and salt level for your taste, so the soup would not be too salty after adding the Miso.
We hope this helps!
planning to make it tomorrow
Hi Ahsan! We hope you enjoy Kakitamajiru! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe!
LOVE LOVE LOVE! I had it for breakfast with rice. Not at all heavy and so satisfying.
Hi Dee! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
We are so happy to hear you loved this soup!😊
Very comforting soup! I need to practice my egg technique a little more. Thank you for the recipe and also for teaching me to make homemade dashi!
Hi Joyce! We are glad to hear you enjoyed this soup!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
Great recipe! I really enjoyed it. I recently bought a bag of thick-sliced bonito flakes. I experiment with using them to make dashi for different recipes. They seem to work best for miso soup, where it makes the soup SO rich! MMMmmm. I think the soups with clear broth like this one taste best with the thinner bonito shavings. It’s more delicate. Either way it is very delicious!
Hi Lion, Thank you very much for trying this recipe and sharing your cooking experience with us!
We are glad to hear that you had a chance to taste different Dashi flavors from different types of bonito flakes. Happy cooking!
I just inhaled this soup. It is VERY delicious and super light. Didn’t change a thing. This will be my go to soup as it’s easy and fast. Thank you for the recipe. 😍
Hi Elle, We are glad to hear you enjoyed this simple soup! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Simple. Easy. Looks & tastes delicious! A winning combination!
Another great recipe from JOC – Thank you
Hi Michael, Aww… Thank you very much for your kind feedback!💕
incredible, whenever i tried to imitate this soup, the egg was dense and deep, thanks for the incredible tip.
Hi Sergio, We are glad to hear Nami’s tip helped! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!😊
We love the recipes you post but, we can no longer have Soy in our foods.
What can we do? Can we omit soy in some of your recipes?
Tamari or Coconut Amino is what I use.
Hi Caprice! Thank you very much for sharing your tip!❤️
Hi Kris, Thank you very much for your kind feedback.
If you would like to skip soy in this recipe, a product called NoSoy (soy-free) sauce by Ocean’s Halo may work for you. Or you can simply skip the soy sauce in this recipe and adjust the flavor with salt or broth. We hope this helps.🙂
Italian Egg Drop soup is one of my favourites so I’m certain this one would be right up there too. We are eating a lot of soups these days as the temperatures plummet (-15° C or 5° F), it just warms you from the inside. Once we are out of lockdown and can entertain outside again, I will make this soup as a welcome cup for our guests. Soups help keep the warmth inside you even though we have the patio heater going with electric blankets.
Hi Eva, wow! -15°C is very cold!😲 We hope you are keeping yourself very warm with a lot of soups! We hope the day will come sooner to enjoy this Kakitamajiru with many of your guests. Happy Cooking!
Oooh, this looks yummy! I think I’ll make this tonight!
Nami, what would you recommend to serve this with? I’m sure I would be satisfied with only the soup, but idk about my husband haha.
Hi Schortzie, Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
This soup will be perfect when you need a little more protein to add to your meal.
How about serving this soup with one of these dishes?
https://www.justonecookbook.com/soy-glazed-vegetable-beef-rolls/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pork-shabu-salad-with-ponzu-dressing-egg-drop-soup/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/stir-fry-vegetables/
We hope this helps!
I’d like some clarity on step seven, please. The written instructions say to bring it to a boil, drizzle the egg, let it keep cooking, and THEN turn off the heat. Is that right? Because in the pictures the broth isn’t boiling. It looks calm, like maybe a simmer. Did you mean to bring it to a boil, turn off the heat, and then do the egg?
To me, a simmer would be tiny bubbles starting to form but the surface is calm, whereas boiling means the surface is very active and anything you put in the liquid would be pushed around by it.
Hi April, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We’ll make the necessary changes to make it more clear. We hope you enjoy this soup soon!
Thank you! Your updated information is easier for me to understand. Can’t wait to make this yummy looking soup!
Great! Let us know how it goes, April!☺️
Had some extra dashi so I made this today! Fantastic side dish I’ll be using regularly from now on. Thanks!
Hi Brent, Awesome! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Amazing recipe! I made it for my family, took maybe 10 minutes and everyone loved it!
Hi Robyn, Thank you very much for trying this recipe! We are glad to hear you and your family enjoyed this soup!😊