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Delicious seasonal recipes from the Post Food team.

Chinese Egg and Tomato Dough-Drop Soup. (Rey Lopez/For The Washington Post; food styling by Carolyn Robb)

By Becky Krystal

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Hi, everyone, and good Saturday morning. I know I’ve written to you about the little hidden gems we probably all have lurking in our pantries and refrigerators — that nice jam from the farmers market, the French mustard you picked up on vacation, the finishing salt someone gave you as a host gift. But this week’s featured recipe made me appreciate anew the everyday staples that can do a lot more than we give them credit for.

In food writer Megan Zhang’s Chinese Egg and Tomato Dough-Drop Soup, that hero is all-purpose flour. You’ll start with a small bowl of it, then gradually add water, a few drops at a time, stirring with chopsticks all the while. (This is a great time to use those takeout utensils you’ve stashed in the miscellany drawer.) Eventually, you’ll end up with a pebbly dough, known as “geda,” that turns into nearly instant dumplings when stirred into the hot broth. Zhang learned this technique from her grandmother, who employed it during lean times in rural China as a way to create a satisfying meal out of odds and ends. We all loved how it made the sweet, savory and tangy soup feel even more substantial. The eggs, drizzled into the pot so they cook on contact into fluffy ribbons, help with that, too.

I’m already thinking about how I can incorporate this clever trick into all sorts of improvised pantry soups.

Ellie Krieger’s Pork Tenderloin in Green Pipián Simmer Sauce takes the idea of a there-when-you-need-it element to the next level. The recipe starts with the pipián, which is somewhat similar to a cooked salsa verde in that it’s made with tomatillos, cilantro, onion and poblano pepper, but adds pumpkin seeds to the mix for even more body and creaminess. The yield is more than 3 cups of sauce, half of which you’ll use in Ellie’s recipe with seared pork tenderloin medallions and half of which you can save for another meal. The sauce works with just about any protein you can think of, whether that’s chicken breasts, fish fillets or shrimp. My bonus meal was to cook eggs directly in the sauce, sort of like shakshuka, and serve it with tortillas. (It was a little messy but so good.)

The sauce is easy to freeze and defrost, and while it’s more work than, say, pulling out the bag of flour, the reward of being more than halfway to dinner on a busy weeknight is well worth the advance prep. Below you’ll find a few more sauce-centric recipes that can take the pressure off of meal planning and adapt to whatever proteins and vegetables you have on hand.

I’m always ready to share more ideas about how to make your cooking more fun and less stressful, so join me for my live weekly chat at 11 a.m. Eastern Thursday. Submit your questions now, then come back when I kick off the conversation.

Until next week, happy cooking.

Pork Tenderloin in Green Pipián Simmer Sauce

(Tom McCorkle/For The Washington Post; food styling by Gina Nistico)

This lusciously savory, tangy and creamy take on the traditional Mexican sauce known as pipián features roasted tomatillos and poblano peppers blended with pumpkin seeds, spices and fresh cilantro.

By Ellie Krieger

Chinese Egg and Tomato Dough-Drop Soup

A flour-and-water dough adds instant satisfaction to this savory-sweet and tangy soup.

Shrimp in Tomato Curry Simmer Sauce

This creamy spiced sauce can be prepared in advance and kept on hand for a fast, flavor-packed rush-hour dinner.

Flexible Fridge Enchiladas

Leftovers can make mighty good fillings for enchiladas — you just need to know how to bring them together.

Cooked Green Salsa (Salsa Verde Cocida)

A big-batch salsa verde is the key to a week of dinners, including chilaquiles, enchiladas and more.

Big-Batch, Pantry-Friendly Tomato Sauce

Portion the sauce out to use in a variety of dishes, such as shakshuka, pizza or pasta.

Recipe of the Week

(Rey Lopez/For The Washington Post; food styling by Carolyn Robb)

Chinese Egg and Tomato Dough-Drop Soup

Find substitution suggestions and other tips below the recipe.

Save or print the recipe

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days. The soup may thicken as it sits; add more liquid before reheating, if desired.

Servings: 2 to 4 (makes 5 cups)

Total time: 45 mins

Ingredients

For the dough

3/4 cup (90 grams) all-purpose flour
Pinch fine salt
1/3 cup cool water

For the soup

1 1/2 teaspoons neutral oil, such as peanut or vegetable
2 scallions, thinly sliced, dark greens separated
2 medium ripe tomatoes (about 10 ounces total), coarsely chopped
3/4 teaspoon fine salt, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Steps

1. Make the dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Place the water in a small bowl. Use chopsticks to stir the flour while using your other hand to splash drops of water directly into the flour to start forming clumps. Continue stirring and splashing in water, aiming for where the flour has not yet clumped and shaking the bowl (or scraping down the sides) as needed to incorporate all the flour, until the mixture forms small, irregularly sized clumps, about rice- or pea-sized. (Add the water slowly, as it can turn from dry to sticky quickly. You likely won’t use all of the water.)

2. Make the soup: In a medium (3-to-4-quart) pot over medium-high heat, heat the neutral oil until shimmering. Add the scallion whites and light greens, and cook, stirring constantly, until aromatic, 15 to 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, the soy sauce and sugar, and cook, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes collapse and their juices pool, 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a small bowl. Add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and lightly beat, leaving some distinct streaks of white and yolk.

4. Add the broth and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium to maintain a gentle simmer. Using chopsticks, gently stir the dough in the bowl to break apart any clumps that may be sticking together. Working in three batches, sprinkle the dough over the soup, gently stirring after each addition, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the dough cooks through and appears slightly translucent, 3 to 4 minutes.

5. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Stir the soup to create a gentle whirlpool, then slowly stream in the beaten egg, moving your hand back and forth so the egg forms ribbons. Cook, without disturbing, until the egg starts to set into fluffy curds, 30 to 45 seconds, then gently stir to distribute. Stir in the white pepper and scallion dark greens. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Divide the soup among bowls and serve hot.

From food writer Megan Zhang. Tested by Becky Krystal.

Nutrition information per serving (1 1/4 cups), based on 4: Calories: 205; Total Fat: 7 g; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Cholesterol: 140 mg; Sodium: 753 mg; Carbohydrates: 24 g; Dietary Fiber: 2 g; Sugar: 1 g; Protein: 11 g.

Substitution suggestions + other tips and ideas: