Hello, I was going through some recipes for different kinds of Japanese soups and stews and most of the recipes recommend cracking open a raw egg into each bowl right before serving. Does the hot broth cook the egg, and if so, does it taste good? I understand it's not a beaten egg, and I was hoping some one could explain the process in more detail and assure me that it's yummy and won't make me sick, lol.

If the broth is hot enough it might cook the egg somewhat. However, I would not recommend eating raw eggs. Too risky.

It basically poaches the egg. As you stir it in while eating, it will thicken the soup a bit.

It might be risky if you, like Paprika, are buying your eggs in a Botswana market. Hot water will cook it perfectly in 30 seconds and it tastes great. Do not stir! It is not supposed to look thick. Have you ever eaten a poached egg or a three minute egg? Many people like raw eggs and others like poached eggs. But in hot water, without the shell, it will cook well real fast. If you like to overcook your scrambled eggs for more than five minutes, forget it.

The soup cooks the egg a little bit and it's yummy :)

In Japan, the eggs sold at grocery stores are pasteurized. That's why when Japanese people eat raw eggs, they don't get sick. Anyway, when you make the kind of dish, buy pasteurized eggs for safety:http://safeeggs.com/ By the way, many of Japanese people use raw eggs for the kind of soup dish. So the egg in the soup is usually very runny and it's kinda raw. But some of us like me don't like to have a raw egg in the soup so I usually boil it first with the soup. What I do is that before the vegetable in the soup is almost done, I drop a raw egg and cover the pot with a lid and wait until the egg is done. Well, I don't really boil the soup with the egg in. I kinda simmer the soup so the vegetables in the soup don't get too cooked.