Skip to main content
Soup

Clearing Soups

A method to clarify soup by adding egg whites and crushed eggshells, then boiling and straining.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Clearing Soups

Ingredients

Directions

Combine

  1. Stir the egg whites into the cold soup.

  2. Add the crushed eggshells to the soup.

Clarify and strain

  1. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  2. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes.

  3. Remove from heat and let it stand for 10 minutes.

  4. Strain the soup through a flannel bag.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
As they cook and set, they form a raft that traps cloudy particles, clearing the soup.
Crushed eggshells
Their rough fragments add surface area that helps bind fine particles into the raft for clearer soup.

The step that matters

Stir the egg whites into the cold soup. Whites must be fully dispersed in cold liquid before heating. If they start cooking in clumps, they set unevenly and fail to form a clarifying raft that traps cloudiness.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Indian Spiced Potato Soup with Tofu and SpinachIndian Spiced Potato Soup with Tofu and Spinach448 recipesClear Carrot and Bottle Gourd SoupClear Carrot and Bottle Gourd Soup65 recipesMock Bisque SoupMock Bisque Soup51 recipesCream of Asparagus SoupCream of Asparagus Soup42 recipes