Gigi’s Matzo Ball Chicken Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the ball in matzo ball soup made of? ›

Matzo balls are light and fluffy dumplings made of eggs, vegetable oil, water, matzo meal, and some simple salt and pepper seasoning. This recipe includes “floaters”, the kind of matzo balls that float in your soup as opposed to “sinkers”, matzo balls that sink to the bottom of the bowl.

Add to that the benefits of vitamins A, C, and D in the broth, the anti-inflammatory properties of the soup vegetables, and a boost of energy from the carbohydrates in the matzo balls, and you've got a recipe for feeling better!

Cold-poaching the chicken breasts, then removing them until the end of the cooking process, guarantees a perfectly tender and juicy texture. Using stock reinforces the flavor of the broth, creating a more deeply flavorful soup.

At that table, matzo balls serve as an Ashkenazi Jewish cultural symbol and reminder of past hardships — matzo representing the unleavened bread that the Jewish people ate in the desert to sustain themselves during their exodus from Egypt.

Science confirms that matzo ball soup in particular is really good for you. It may even reduce your blood pressure.

Schmaltz was certainly the typical fat in the matzo balls of the Old World, and many cooks still swear by it today. Today, though, vegetable and canola oils are often used for convenience.

"Certain ingredients, like carrots and dill, are incredibly healthy. However, the matzo ball itself can be very high in carbohydrates, and so I recommend making the matzo ball from almond flour to increase your fibre intake, for better blood sugar and cholesterol management."

Eating matzo.

The box of matzo has the nutritional facts on it, so I either bolus accordingly or choose to limit the amount of matzo I eat. If my glucose levels are higher, I may make a choice to not eat the full amount of matzo that tradition says you should eat.

You can cook the chicken at a high-enough temperature to kill bacteria by turning up the heat on the broth, but for a much safer and tastier method, brown your chicken first. Browning or searing the chicken in a separate pan is not only far more foolproof, but adds richness and extra umami to your soup.

How to make chicken soup taste richer? ›

Pack in umami flavor.

"If your broth is lacking in savory richness, try adding roasted onion, tomato paste, mushrooms, seaweed, soy sauce, or miso. These ingredients add umami flavor and depth to broth," she says. The choice of ingredient depends on the recipe, though.

Yes, chicken breast can become softer the longer you cook it, especially if you cook it using moist heat methods such as braising or stewing. These methods allow the collagen in the meat to break down, resulting in a more tender texture.

THIS CLASSIC JEWISH SOUP IS A CURE FOR WHAT AILS YOU

It's a classic Eastern European Jewish soup and is seriously comforting, but even if you've eaten a matzo ball you might not know exactly what that big dumpling floating in your bowl is. So what is a matzo ball, exactly, and who makes the best around?

Meaning of matzo ball in English

a small dumpling (= ball of dough) made from crushed matzo (= thin, flat, Jewish bread), usually eaten in soup: I am planning to make my chicken soup and matzo balls.

Although matzo ball soup is linked to Judaism in general, it is most often eaten by Jews during Passover, as part of the Passover meal (or Seder). “The Jewish holiday of Passover celebrates the Biblical story of the Exodus, or the freeing of Hebrew slaves from Egypt. . .

Matzah balls or matzo balls are Ashkenazi Jewish soup morsels made from a mixture of matzah meal, beaten eggs, water, and a fat, such as oil, margarine, or chicken fat.

Matzo Meal Consistency: The consistency of your matzo meal is essential. If the matzo meal is too coarse, the matzoh balls may turn out too dense and heavy. If it's too fine, they may become too light and fall apart.

Matzo balls began as the German Knödel, a bready dumpling. Jewish cooks in the Middle Ages first adapted the dumplings to add to Sabbath soups, using broken matzo with some kind of fat like chicken or beef marrow, eggs, onions, ginger, and nutmeg.

Matzo balls are the Jewish dumpling, and so naturally they fit into soup! Before matzo was crunched into tiny crumbs called and sold as “matzo meal,” European Jews would get the matzo crumbs from the local bakery and mold them into dumplings with egg and water.