Jewish chicken soup with Matzo balls

[Jezebel]

Have got a recipe for this,. It looks really nice and all is really easy to get hold of apart from Matzo meal. Where would I get hold of that? I did a google on Matzo meal and it said that Tescos sell Rakusen matzo biscuits - but are they the right thing? Any advice gratefully received.

probably not the right thing as they are large 'cracker' type biscuits that are sold in most supermarkets. They are very brittle. Not sure where you get matzo meal though - could you substitute anything instead?

no matzo meal is like flour. you should be able to get it in any supermarket that has a kosher section.

Matzo meal should be practically on the same shelf in Tescos as the matzo biscuits! IIRC the coarse meal is in a blue and cream cardboard box, and the fine meal is in a red and cream box. If you can't find it, you could take some matzos themselves and zizzz them in the blender until they are a fairly coarse powder.

Jezebel, could you let us have the recipe? I would love to make a proper chicken soup like me granny used to make but alas have never had the right recipe.

I second Maudy's request. Have been desperately homesick and a bowl of maztoh ball soup will fill a bit of the emptiness, I reckon. (I'm not Jewish but grew up in a Jewish neighbourhood.)

Thanks all for the advice - I'll try Tescos as prettycandles suggested. Here is recipe:

Jewish Chicken Soup w. Matzo Balls
To be made the day before needed.
(Serves 4 to 6)

1 large chicken, sectioned including giblets
pack giblets
3 large carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery plus handful celery leaves sliced
2 onions, roughly chopped
3 bay leaves
1 cup rice
3 potatoes, roughly chopped (optional)
salt to taste
pepper

Place chicken and giblets in a large saucepan and cover with water.
Boil with lid on but slightly open till chicken is cooked. Remove
chicken sections (leaving giblets) and set aside to cool. Then skin,
bone, and section chicken and return to pot. Add carrots, celery,
onions, bay leaves, salt and pepper and more water if needed and
boil for about 3/4 hour. Then add rice and potatoes, taste for salt
and add more if desired, and boil again for 1/2 hour. Set aside to
cool then refrigerate till the next day. Next day, skim off and
discard fat, then reheat soup adding prepared matzo balls if desired.
When serving, keep turning bay leaves back to soup if you don't
plan to use it all - they will add flavor.

Matzo Balls

2 eggs
1/2 cup Matzo Meal
1/3 teaspoon salt

Separate eggs. Beat whites until stiff then add yolks. Mix
matzo meal and salt and fold into eggs - gently. Put in frig
for 1/2 hour. Form balls - gently - and drop into boiling,
salted water or soup. Cover and cook 45 minutes.

Thanks for the recipe, Jezebel. Sounds similar to the recipe I found here , which, like yours, looks to be an all-day exercise! Don't know if I have that kind of time at the moment.

Do let us know how yours turns out so I can enjoy it vicariously.

My mum used to make chicken soup using just thighs as the meat cooked much faster and was easier to pick over (to take skin and bits out of the soup) when it was cooked. I've never heard of using both rice and potatoes, though.

When we have roast chicken I often make soup with the leftovers - just chopping the carcass in two so that it will fit in the pot. The soup is much less fatty that way, and doesn't need to be skimmed, but it doesn't taste nearly as heavenly as when it's made with raw chicken.