Classic Jewish Chicken Soup Recipes

CLASSIC JEWISH CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Put chicken in a large pot with the chopped onions. Pour enough water into the pot to cover; add dill, parsley, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook at a simmer for 45 minutes.
• Skim and discard any foam from the top of the simmering liquid. Remove chicken to a cutting board. Remove as much meat from the chicken bones as possible; cut into chunks.
• Return the liquid to a boil. Add carrots, potatoes, leeks, celery, kohlrabi, and parsnips to the boiling liquid. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir cooked chicken chunks and chicken bouillon into the mixture. Season again with salt and pepper. Cook until the chicken is hot, about 5 minutes.

CHICKEN SOUP FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Place the chicken, celery, carrots, onions, parsnip (if using), parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt in a large soup pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to very low. Adjust the heat until the soup is "smiling": barely moving on the surface, with an occasional bubble breaking through. Cook uncovered, until the chicken is very tender and falling off the bone, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• When cool enough to handle, use tongs to transfer chicken from the pot to a container. Taste the broth and continue to simmer it until it is concentrated and tasty. Strain broth through a fine sieve (or a colander lined with cheesecloth) into a separate container. Discard all the solids from the strainer (or reserve the vegetables, chill and serve with vinaigrette, if you wish).
• Refrigerate chicken pieces and broth separately for at least 8 hours (or up to 3 days), until a thick layer of yellow fat has risen to the top of the broth.
• When ready to finish the soup, use your fingers to separate chicken breast meat from bones and skin. Discard bones and skin. Use two forks to pull the breast meat apart into soft chunks, or use a knife and cut into bite-size pieces. (Reserve dark meat for another use.)
• Skim chicken fat from top of broth and set aside. Place 3 tablespoons of the fat in a soup pot with a lid. Add leeks, stir to coat, and heat over medium heat until leeks begin to fry. Then reduce the heat to a gentle sizzle and cook, stirring often, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
• Add carrots, sprinkle with salt, stir, and cover the pot. Cook until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes more. (Keep in mind that vegetables will continue to cook in the soup.) Do not brown.
• Pour broth into pot with vegetables and heat to a simmer. Add noodles and simmer until heated through, soft and plumped with chicken broth. Add the breast meat, then taste broth and add salt and pepper to taste. For best flavor, soup should have some golden droplets of fat on top; if needed, add more chicken fat one teaspoon at a time.
• Serve immediately, in a tureen or from the pot, sprinkling each serving with herbs.

JEWISH CHICKEN SOUP WITH HORSERADISH DILL MATZO BALLS

Steps:

• The day before you want to serve the soup, put the whole chicken in your largest lidded pan. Add sufficient cold water to cover by at least 1cm. Bring the water to a boil over a high heat, skimming off (and discarding) any foam with a big metal spoon. While it's boiling, halve the onions through the roots (leaving the skins on - they will add colour). As soon as it starts to boil, add the onions and remaining soup ingredients plus 1 tbsp salt. Turn down the heat to a very low simmer, partially cover the pan and leave to cook gently for 1 hr 30 mins, until you see the meat on the chicken's legs start to come away from the bone. Depending on how large your pan is you may need to drain a little water off to fit the vegetables in, so it doesn't overflow.
• Use two forks to carefully remove the chicken from the pot, leaving the veg behind. Strip the meat from the bones, tearing some of the chicken into pieces to serve in the soup (save the rest to use in salads, sandwiches or pies). Return the bones and cartilage to the pot and simmer gently for a further 1 hr-1 hr 30 mins. Strain the soup into a large container or pan. If they are still in reasonable shape, lightly scrape the peel from the carrots and slice them to go in the finished soup - keep refrigerated until needed. Discard the other vegetables and the bones. Leave the soup to cool completely then refrigerate overnight.
• By morning, the fat will have risen to the surface - skim it off, pop it in a dish and refrigerate it. This is known as schmaltz, which you'll need to make the matzo balls. (You can use what's left over to make roast potatoes.) Taste the soup to see if it has enough flavour. It may need to be reduced a little by boiling it rapidly, then seasoning.
• To make the matzo balls, use a fork to beat the eggs with ½ tsp salt and a few grinds of pepper. Stir in the schmaltz, matzo meal, 2 tbsp chopped dill, horseradish and 60ml chicken soup. Fold into the egg mixture (it will be quite sloppy). Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 mins to hydrate the matzo meal and firm the mixture enough to handle. Scoop heaped tablespoons of the mixture and, with moistened hands, gently roll into balls. Put them on a plate or on a tray lined with baking parchment. You should end up with 12 matzo balls.
• Fill a wide pan with cold water and season with 1 tbsp salt. Set it over a high heat to boil, then transfer the matzo balls, one by one, gently into the water. Turn the heat down to a simmer. Cover with a lid (preferably a glass one) and leave for 30 mins. Do not be tempted to peek too soon. They are done when they have puffed up and when you cut into one, it should be light all the way through to the centre.
• If including fresh carrots in the soup, slice them into 2cm-thick discs and add them to the soup pot with the chicken pieces. Simmer for 10-15 mins to soften the carrot and heat the chicken. If using the carrot from the stock, add for the last 3 mins to heat up. When the matzo balls are ready, carefully remove them from the pot using a slotted spoon and put two (or three) in each bowl. Ladle over the hot chicken soup. Sprinkle with more chopped dill to serve.

CLASSIC JEWISH CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Bring water to boil, add chicken, return to boil (covered).
• Add all vegetables except for parsley & dill and allow to cook on medium to low heat, uncovered, until reduced by about half (2-3 hours). You may skim during the cooking or refrigerate the finished soup and remove the solidified fat.
• Add parsley & dill and cook for 20 minutes, then remove the herbs and discard.
• Season soup with salt & pepper or boullion powder to taste. If soup is too strong, add water. If it is too weak let it boil out longer (uncovered).
• Remove from heat and allow to cool.
• Remove the chicken and separate out the meat into bite sized pieces (shreds). Return the chicken pieces to the pot. Serve immediately or freeze.