Soups
Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup
At a Glance
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
Pro Tip
Stir the cornflour slurry immediately before adding it, and drizzle the beaten egg slowly into a gently simmering broth while stirring in one direction.
Equipment at a Glance
- Large pot or Dutch oven
- Ladle
- Fine mesh strainer (if using fresh corn)
- Whisk
- Small bowl for cornstarch slurry
Introduction
Silky egg ribbons, not scrambled flecks, are the detail that turns this into a proper Chinese-style corn soup rather than a plain chicken broth, and they come from beaten egg drizzled slowly into a gently simmering pot. Getting that right is mostly about patience — pour slowly, stir gently, and keep the heat low.
Allow about 15 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook, around 40 minutes in total. It serves four.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp neutral oil (vegetable or rapeseed)
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1.5 litres chicken stock
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- About 250g sweetcorn kernels
- 250g creamed corn
- 3 tbsp cornflour mixed with 60ml cold water
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Salt and white pepper, to taste
- 2 spring onions, sliced, to garnish
How to Make Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup
Build the Base
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring continuously, for about 30 seconds until fragrant — don't let the garlic brown, or it turns bitter.
Add the Liquid
- Add the chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the chicken breasts and simmer for 15–18 minutes until fully cooked — the thickest part should reach at least 75°C. Remove the chicken, let it cool enough to handle, then shred with two forks and set aside.
Simmer
- Add the sweetcorn kernels and creamed corn to the broth. Bring back to a gentle simmer for 3–4 minutes, until the corn is heated through.
Adjust the Consistency
- Stir the cornflour slurry again, then pour it gradually into the soup while stirring constantly. Simmer for 1–2 minutes until the broth lightly coats the back of a spoon.
- Return the shredded chicken to the pan. With the soup at a gentle simmer, slowly drizzle in the beaten eggs in a thin stream while stirring gently in one direction, to form soft ribbons rather than scrambled flecks.
- Stir in the soy sauce and sesame oil. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper. Ladle into warm bowls and garnish with sliced spring onion.
Tips for the Best Results
- Pour the egg slowly, in a thin stream
- Pouring it all in at once, or stirring vigorously, breaks it into small scrambled pieces instead of soft ribbons.
- Keep the heat at a gentle simmer once the egg goes in
- A hard boil cooks the egg too fast to form clean strands.
- Stir the cornflour slurry again right before adding it
- Cornflour settles quickly, and an unstirred slurry can go into the pot in lumps.
- Taste the broth before salting
- The soy sauce already adds a fair amount of salt, so check before adding more.
How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup
Cool leftovers promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours. Eat refrigerated soup within 48 hours, or freeze it. Reheat only once, over gentle heat, until steaming hot throughout — avoid a hard boil, which can turn the egg ribbons rubbery.
Egg ribbons soften somewhat after freezing and thawing. For the best texture if batch-cooking, freeze the soup without the egg (it keeps for up to 2 months this way) and drizzle in fresh egg ribbons when you reheat it.
Substitutions and Variations
- Ready-cooked chicken
- use about 300g cooked shredded chicken in place of the raw breasts — skip the poaching step and add it when the recipe would normally return the chicken to the pan.
- Extra vegetables
- stir in a small handful of peas or finely sliced mushrooms with the sweetcorn.
- More heat
- add a little chilli, or a sharper ginger note, to taste.
- Thinner or thicker
- for a thinner soup, stir in a splash more stock; for a thicker one, mix a little extra cornflour with cold water and add it gradually.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I use leftover cooked chicken instead of poaching my own?
- Yes. Ready-cooked roast chicken is a useful shortcut. Add the shredded cooked chicken when the recipe would normally return the poached chicken to the soup, and heat it through thoroughly.
- Why did my egg clump up instead of forming ribbons?
- The egg was probably added too quickly or the soup was stirred too vigorously. Keep the broth at a gentle simmer, drizzle the beaten egg in slowly, and stir gently in one direction.
- How can I adjust the soup's thickness?
- For a thicker soup, mix a little extra cornflour with cold water and add it gradually until it's right. For a thinner soup, add a splash more stock.
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