Chicken Soup: Avgolemono (Egg Lemon Soup) (Greek)

posted by SueFreeman 05-09-101 10:32 PM

Avgolemono Egg Lemon Soup
Recipes by chef..... Heather Nicolozakes

4 qts water
4 lbs. stewing chicken
2-3 stalks celery
1 onion, quartered

or

4 qts chicken broth in a can (knowing it is not the same)

1 to 1 1/2 cups rice (or orzo) more or less to taste
salt to taste
4 eggs, Separated
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, or to taste (you can use Real-Lemon with the knowledge it is a little different. There is a frozen lemon juice you can use that is extremely close to fresh)


Boil chicken with onion and celery. Cook til chicken is done and ready to fall off bones Remove chicken and veggies and strain broth. Add rice to broth and cook for 15 to 20 minutes til rice is cooked.


Whip egg whites til frothy, but not stiff. You want them to have some volume and almost ready to stand on their own but not stiff and not holding a peak. Add 1 T water, lemon juice and egg yolks and keep beating until well incorporated. It should be frothy. (You can skip this step and just beat the egg whites and egg yolks together with 1 T water and lemon juice but the eggs curdle much easier if you don't do the first step. It won't alter the taste, but the appearance will suffer.)

Using a beater and beating eggs constantly, add hot but not boiling broth (not rice) to eggs in a slow stream. Use enough hot broth to make the eggs almost as hot as the broth. You can feel the outside of the bowl to check for temp. If it is a thick bowl it might take a lot of broth.

Now reverse the process. While using the mixer, beat the broth with the rice in it while pouring the lemon broth mixture into the pan just to mix. Bring to boil. It should still be frothy. If it is then the eggs did not curdle.

Now you can use the chicken and add it to the soup or serve it on the side or use it in something else. If you use the chicken then remember you might want to add less rice so you aren't short of broth.
Add more lemon juice if you want. Serve.

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