Kimchi-Rice Egg Drop Soup

Notes on hangover prevention

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As someone who has worked in the wine trade for over a decade, I’ve had my fair share of hangovers.

Unfortunately, it’s part of the job. You never want one, you never mean it to happen, but there’s always “one more bottle” of something delicious being passed around. There’s always a tasting. An event. A party.

The other day was one such event. Our housewarming, to be precise. 12 winemakers, bar owners, distributors, and writers gathered in one small one-bedroomed Portuguese apartment to eat, drink, and be merry.

A little too merry.

By 8pm, I could feel the hangover starting to kick in. This was a lunchtime gathering that had gone on longer than it probably should have.

The stragglers had convened to watch The Godfather II (I can confirm this is not a film to watch for the first time whilst tipsy) when my friend suggested his “hangover prevention” concoction.

In his words, hangover prevention (or indeed a morning-after cure) needs four things.

Salt, spice, broth, and starch.

He’s not wrong. Hangovers can be lessened if you rehydrate, replace salts, eat, and essentially sweat it out.

So he made us Kimchi-Rice Egg Drop Soup.

Kimchi-Rice Egg Drop Soup is a mouthful to say and a mouthful to eat. It’s essentially a mash-up of congee and egg-drop soup.

Congee, if you’ve not come across it before, is what happens if you boil rice for a long, long time. It turns into a porridge-type slurry that you can top with almost anything. It’s a favored breakfast across much of East Asia.

Egg drop soup originated in China and is what happens when you slowly pour beaten eggs into simmering broth. The egg becomes whispy as you stir it, thickening the soup and adding some (when a hangover is imminent) much-needed protein.

There is no one right way to make this dish. You can simmer the rice for as little as 10 minutes or up to an hour. I like to go for around 30 minutes which is about the point when the rice starts to break down but isn’t yet a full-on slurry.

Topping choices are endless. Stalwarts include sesame seeds, finely sliced scallions / spring onions, and / or fresh cilantro / coriander. But it can take almost anything you throw at it. I’ve added a whole host of ideas in the variations section below.

It goes without saying that if you are a more sensible human than I, you can make this soup hangover-free. It’s a winner for when you feel under the weather too.

But I’ll tell you now, if you accidentally end up on the sticky end of too much alcohol, it’s not going to hurt to get some starch, broth, salt and spice into your system.

The rice

I used basmati rice because a) that’s what I had in my cupboard and b) I wasn’t going for full-on congee so wanted to use a rice with less starch.

Jasmine rice is a popular choice for congee.

You could even experiment with risotto rice if you want something super starchy.

This is a great recipe to use leftover cooked rice, and will cut the cooking time by at least 10-15 minutes.

The kimchi

I’ve always got a pot of Kimchi fermenting on the counter — this is my go-to recipe. You can also buy it in but making it yourself is much cheaper (and it’s kinda fun to burp the jar as it ferments).

The stock

The depth of flavour in this soup will live and die by the quality of your stock. My favourite is lamb broth, my dark chicken stock is a close second.

Beef or vegetable works perfectly well too.

Kimchi, Rice and Egg Drop Soup

Serves three generously or four with smaller appetites