The Dave Chang Show Hot and Sour Egg Drop Soup, Cooking with Lemons, and Iterating on Dishes with Marc Johnson
Mar 30, 2026
Marc Johnson, culinary consultant and chef with restaurant and TV experience, joins for a lemony chicken lab. They trace a dish from first idea to finished form. Short takes on avgolemono, turning it into hot-and-sour egg drop, roasting and stock-building, emulsion techniques, and how constraints shape creativity.
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Roast Bones Then Reduce For Richer Broth
- Do roast the chicken bones and reduce the broth to build deeper flavor.
- Dave roasted a boned-out chicken at high heat, saved the meaty bones and fats, then simmered with mirepoix and bay to create a rich broth used across dishes.
Lemony Avgolemono Can Become Hot And Sour Egg Drop
- Insight: Avgo Lemono's heavy lemon profile can translate to a Chinese-style hot-and-sour egg-drop texture.
- Dave realized the lemon acidity and egg emulsion mimic hot-and-sour notes, so he made a lemony egg-drop soup by intentionally curdling eggs.
Their Long Friendship Built Through Kitchens And Travel
- Anecdote: How Dave and Marc first connected through New York kitchens and travel.
- Dave recounts meeting Marc in the early 2000s, parties, and Marc's moves from Shanghai to Boston, LA, Tokyo and London that shaped their long friendship.