It wasn’t until our family holiday in Greece that I came across the Avgolemono Soup. It’s not a very common soup particularly in our part of the world. It was love at first sip and I was so enamored, I even got the Greek Chef to write the recipe down. It was in Greek and I later had it translated to English. The first thing that struck me was the bright yellow hue and smooth creamy texture of the soup. I was pleasantly surprised to find no trace of cream in the ingredients. The most intriguing part of the recipe is how the lemon and the egg come together seamlessly to create the hue and texture without curdling. The original Greek recipe had rice in the soup and one can make it a mini meal similar to the noodle soups we are more familiar with. My tip for making the perfect avgolemono soup is to be patient with the tempering of the beaten egg before adding it to the hot soup. This soup goes well with a breadbasket or some croutons and fresh salad. Happy fooding around with the Avgolemono!
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A taste from Greece
Ingredients
- 700 ml homemade Chicken Stock
- 1/2 cup cooked Shredded Chicken (Optional for the vegetarian)
- 1 medium Onion finely diced
- 1/3 cup long grain White Rice
- 1 Bay Leaf
- Lemon rind of 1/2 a lemon
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 large Egg Yolks
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- Sprigs of Dill for garnish
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- To a large wok heat the olive oil and add the chopped onion. Cook over low-medium heat for a few 3 – 4 minutes. The colour of the onions should be translucent.
- Add chicken stock to the wok along with the rice, bay leaf and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender and stock is aromatic, about 20 minutes. With slotted spoon, remove and discard bay leaf.
- Switch off flame and cool the wok along with the chicken stock and rice. Place a hand blender into the wok and blend for a few seconds.
- In a separate bowl, beat eggs, yolks, and lemon juice lightly until combined. Taste and season with extra salt, pepper and lemon juice if necessary.
- To prevent the eggs from curdling or solidifying in the hot soup, we need to temper the eggs. This just means we need to pour in a good amount of the hot soup into the eggs ladle by ladle while simultaneously whisking the eggs. This slowly brings up the temperature of the eggs so they do not curdle once they are poured into the hot soup.
- Pour egg-stock mixture back into pot and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until soup is slightly thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the shredded chicken (optional).
- After this, do not simmer or bring to a boil as this will cause the soup to get gluey and the eggs might curdle. Serve immediately with sprigs of dill and some grated lemon zest for that extra lemony.
Notes
The chicken can also be shredded at the end as a garnish.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
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