Avgolemono Soup

Ingredients
For the soup:
1 chicken, giblets and large pieces of fat removed
10 ¹⁄₂ cups water
2-3 stalks parsley, plus extra, minced, for garnish
1 large onion, cut into quarters
2 large carrots, peeled  and roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
1 large sprig thyme
6 peppercorns
1 slice lemon
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
1 cup rice

For the egg sauce:
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Juice of 1 lemon

Instructions
1. Place chicken in large Dutch oven.  Add water, parsley, onion, carrots, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, lemon slice, and salt.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 70 minutes.  Remove from heat, remove chicken from pot, and cool 30 minutes. 

2. Skim fat off stock, then strain stock into a big bowl through a mesh strainer.  Discard flavorings. 

3. Remove meat from chicken and shred into small pieces. 

4. Return 8 ¹⁄₂ cups strained stock to Dutch oven, discard remaining stock or save to use for another purpose.  Add rice.  Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, or until rice is cooked. 

5. In the meantime, beat together eggs, egg yolks, cornstarch, lemon zest and lemon juice in large bowl.  Beat until well combined and slightly frothy. 

6. Return chicken pieces to Dutch oven and simmer 5 minutes.  Remove pot from heat. 

7. Working ¹⁄₂ cup at a time, add soup to egg mixture and whisk gently with fork.  Repeat this 4 to 6 times to temper the eggs.  Pour egg mixture into soup and stir well.  The residual heat from the Dutch oven will be enough to gently cook eggs and keep them from setting. 

8. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley, if desired. 

Note: When heating leftovers, do so over low heat on the stovetop or very slowly in the microwave.  I found that microwaving leftovers for a minute at a time, and stirring the soup well in between, worked perfectly. 

Comments
This recipe is from Scrumptious South Africa and it’s been sitting in my “to make” pile for quite a while.  I’ve been waiting for the right chicken to come along.  When I finally did get to make this, it was when I wasn’t feeling especially well, and it was fantastic!  The soup looks like it should be heavy and cream-based, but it is surprisingly light and amazing.  It felt perfect on my sore throat and all the flavors stood out well.  In texture, it was almost like the congee I’ve had in the past.  I really loved this soup and I’d love to make it again in the near future.  Sadly, we’re not really soup people most of the time, but I’m happy to make an exception for this exceptional soup!

Shown here with Art’s Bruschetta.

Internet - Scrumptious South Africa