What do you look for in a good matzo ball soup?

[t.susannah.chen]

With the high holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur almost upon us, the wannabe Jew in me is craving matzo ball soup. Everyone seems to have a differing opinion as to what matzo balls should be like -- light and fluffy, heavy and dense. What do you look for in a good matzo ball soup, and where are the best places (restaurants and recipes alike) to get it? Would love for your to share your thoughts.

[bards4]

This just showed up in our newspaper today --
http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/ind...

[chocolatetartguy]

Not that I'm an expert, but my favorite matzo balls are made by Saul's Deli in Berkeley and they are tender and kind of eggy. I have no idea if that is traditionally, but I do like it better than, say, the version I had at Shapiro's Deli in Indianapolis. To be fair, for most other menu items, Shapiro's is a superior deli and they have sugar cream pie. At Carnegie in NYC, I always had corned beef sandwiches and pickles.

[Babyducks]

Saul's Deli, best rice pudding ever!

[chocolatetartguy]

I prefer the chocolate pudding at Sauls. They do a few things very well. I like the rice pudding at Picante.

[Steve]

Not flully for me. But not very dense either.

The soup can be anything chicken as long as its delicious. I've had great MB soups with just broth/consomme and great ones with large chunks of chicken and vegetables.

[John E.]

So basically, matzo ball soup can be chicken broth with matzo balls, chicken broth, matzo balls and carrots, onions, and celery or just carrots or just onions or it can have any of the preceeding plus chunks of chicken. It sounds like chicken noodle soup with matzo instead of noodles. I have never had matzo ball soup, but the next time I'm inclined to make chicken noodle soup I'll get some matzo and try that instead. (I stopped putting noodles into the soup pot years ago. If there are leftovers, the noodles do not thaw well, they turn to mush).

[bagelman01]

John,

If you read earlier posts you will find that matzo ball soup need not have any chicken connection. You are defining Chicken Matzo Ball Soup or Chicken Soup WITH Matzo Balls.

Outside the Passover holiday, it is not uncommon to see Chicken soup served that has both noodles and matzo balls.

[John E.]

My point was to substitute the matzo balls for the noodles. I tbought I described ALL of the chicken mayzo ball soup so far on this thread. (I only noticed two non-chicken soups mentioned, beef, and vegetarian and I discounted both as not authentic).

[HillJ]

The OP asked: What do you look for in a good matzo ball soup, and where are the best places (restaurants and recipes alike) to get it?

OP didn't ask for authentic and I haven't seen any rec's on restaurant recipes.

A good matzo ball soup is one that makes the cook happy. In my family members made matzo ball soup with a clear light broth and chicken soup had the noodles. My version sort of combines the best of both.

[John E.]

What was the "clear, light broth" made from?

I was not responding to the OP.

The only matzo ball soup I ever heard of that was made by a Jewish grandmother used chicken broth. Then again, I don't have any experience eating matzo ball soup.

By the way, I frequently make chicken soup without noodles. I cut down my carbs a few years ago and substituted lentils for noodles and did not miss the noodles.

[HillJ]

Oh I love lentils, nice sub there.
The light broth was often onion water or potato water with some bay leaf
Russian grandparents.

[acgold7]

John, I think your roundup of the types of matzo ball soup above is pretty accurate. The non-chicken broth types mentioned upthread aside, I think the default would have to be chicken broth and anything else would be considered aberrational. Not that they wouldn't taste good, just that they would be unexpected by most and uncommon.

And I don't know about HillJ's notion that "A good matzo ball soup is one that makes the cook happy." When it comes to matzo ball soup, everyone knows that this is impossible -- a Jewish mother is NEVER happy with her matzo ball soup.

"How is the soup?"

"Mom, it's delicious."

"Uch, how could it be delicious?" (Waves hands and exits.)

Also note that if you try to do this at home, you won't be buying matzo, but rather matzo meal or better yet, matzo ball mix. You could actually use matzo to make these but I don't know anyone who does. You can tweak the recipe on the box to use seltzer and/or broth instead of water and schmaltz instead of oil and some people add a pinch or so of baking soda/powder to improve lightness, if that's the texture you want. Others separate and beat their eggs rather than adding whole eggs. Lots of variations. Also, unlike one (most?) of the posters above, I actually DO cook mine in the broth rather than in water separately -- gives them more flavor at the expense of a little bit of cloudiness in the broth.

[bobbert]

I have to disagree with the Jewish mother’s response. Prior to the first taste, you would have to hear about how she slaved over the stove for hours making this soup especially for you. Then, if you actually had the nerve to say something totally innocuous like “maybe a tad more salt” then you will be greeted with the hand gesture and the comment of “what do you know anyway?” as she walks out of the room.

[HillJ]

hahah. Love it.

[Tripeler]

I'd like to lobby for equal time here. Is there a real Jewish mother out there who can comment on the responses offered here?

[acgold7]

Obviously you have met my Mom. That's great!

The miracle of Jewish Moms is that it will be a combination of both that sort of guilt and the inability to take a compliment as outlined above. From the brilliant "How to be a Jewish Mother" by the great comedy writer Dan Greenburg (from which I was actually riffing in my post above):

Never accept a compliment:

"Irving, tell me how is the chopped liver?"

"Mmmm! Sylvia, it's delicious!"

"I don't know. First the chicken livers that the butcher gave me were dry. Then the timer on the oven didn't work. Then at the last minute I ran out of onions. Tell me, how could it be good?"

It's available on Amazon and well worth the purchase.

[bobbert]

I'll check it out. Thanks. To sum up. There is no winning with a Jewish mother. If you complement her, you're lying. But never be truthful if it's negative. Knocking her cooking in even the slightest way is to Jewish mothers as honestly answering the question "do these pants make my ass look big?" is to your wife.

[mcf]

That's more like my recollections. :-)

[beevod]

The determining factor for excellence is simple: The heavier the matzo ball (atomic weight similar to that of lead) the better the soup.

[HillJ]

I have a question about the salt in matzo ball soup.

How much/how little? Do you salt the matzo ball water or add salt to the broth?

I seem to miss the mark on the salt altogether...

[mcf]

Salting is hard to gauge because people have such wide variety in their sensitivity to the taste. I aim for tasting it, but not strongly... folks can make adjustments to their own serving after that.

[plf515]

I like both sinkers and floaters, but it should be good chicken soup.

A funny story: When I was a kid, the congregation I belonged to did not have a regular space - we met in members homes. For the holidays, we floated around. One member was a member of the Yale Club, and arranged for a seder there. The congregation cooked all the "special" stuff and the club provided the main food.

One congregant cooked matzoh balls.

They were served to us in beef broth.

Truly bizarre.

[bagelman01]

If you note the OP, it asks about Matzo Ball Soup, not chicken soup with Matzo balls.............

My niece, is a rabbi and vegetarian, my nephew's wife is also vegetarian, as are my great niece and great nephew.

Holdiay time, both Chicken soup with Matzo Balls, and Vegetable Soup with Matzo Balls are offered at the table.

As Matzo Balls are generally cooked in water, not the soup, they make an appropriate dumpling served in any broth. I enjoy them in beef broth, or vegetable soup, or simply placed in a bowl of stew, simialr to chicken and dumplings.

[1sweetpea]

I use matzsah balls from a mix, but make my chicken soup from scratch. My final product has chicken, carrots, celery, peas, onion and dill or parsley. Sometimes I add a bit of lemon zest too. Very nice.

[Cheese Boy]

One single huge ball bobbing in the middle of a clear broth minus any garnishes. Very simple.

[Tripeler]

When I make matzo ball soup, all of mine are indeed floaters because I sneak a little baking powder into the matzo meal before I add eggs and schmalz, and let it sit in the refrigerator a half hour before rolling the balls. Also, a really good chicken stock is important.

[bagelman01]

Floaters, big and fluffy,
Dark robust broth, I always use dark meat chicken to make the soup. Onions in the skin tied up in cheesecloth used in cooking but not served. Celery, carrots and parsnips from the pot served served in the bowl, salt pepper and a hint of garlic to taste.

If your soup is too pale, then add a beet while simmering for about 45 minutes.

[bards4]

My son loves the sinkers. My daughter loves the floaters. It's always a guessing game which ones we'll end up with. That said, the soup itself is quite substantial. I use the same veggies as you do, however after cooking the broth for hours, I discard the bird and save the veggies. I then puree the veggies into the soup. Makes it substantial and yummy. If you like clear broth, you won't like my soup. But it's a darn fine soup.

[bobbert]

I'm in the dense, heavy sinker camp. Made with schmaltz. Soup clear with onion celery and carrot - maybe a little salt and pepper - that's it. Matzo balls should be so dense that an autopsy weeks later should find them still intact in your stomach.

[iluvcookies]

+1 on your description. Nothing like schmaltz to give a little flavor to a nice sinker!

[meatn3]

Yep!

Although the last few years I've started adding a little finely grated onion to the matzo balls for extra flavor.

[EWSflash]

Oh- and maybe some parsley, don't care if they sink or float. But mine always float, I was told by severa Jewish moms to handle them lightly, lest they sink.

[EWSflash]

Not even Jewish, but my ma made matzo ball soup often and did a hell of a job. I like strong broth (poach a chicken in boxed chicken broth) and triple the matzo ball recipe, carrots, and that's all. Oh- pepper.
If I don't triple the recipe I don't have any left over for lunch the next day.

[acgold7]

Just to stir the pot, I'll wade in and say firm and substantial sinkers, clear and robustly flavored broth with no identifiable bits in it but for a little dill floating on top, no veg.

[smartie]

agree with your sinking kneidlech and broth, but I like chunks of carrot and celery, no dill, and some lockshen.

[mcf]

I like a hybrid sinker with some lightness but enough chew, veggies, clear, richly flavored broth and lots of fresh dill.

[HillJ]

Light as air floaters, no sinkers! Gentle but flavoral chicken broth. A tiny but noticeable amt. of shredded onion, carrot and celery and a big bowl!