I need Matzoh Ball Soup advice -- please help me.

[Denninmi]

I've never had or made Matzoh (Matzah?) Ball Soup before.

A neighbor was telling my mother about some she bought at Kroger (of all places) last week, and how good it was. Of course, she also told my mother she didn't think she'd like it, since the Matzoh Balls are made of fish (I think she was more than a little confunsed!).

Anyway, it really intrigues me. I saw some pre-made, jarred matzoh balls in the Passover display section at Kroger the other day, as well as some mixes. But, they actually didn't look to appealing -- sort of slimy looking. I'm sure fresh would be better.

Tonight, I made the matzohs, which was very simple.

Tomorrow, I want to make the soup.

How big should the Matzoh balls be, and does it make a difference in how they ultimately turn out? The pre-made ones were about the size of golf balls, which seemed kind of large to me -- I think that would tend to make them sort of dense and heavy in the middle.

Also, plain or flavored with herbs and onions? I saw matzoh ball mix that was pre-seasoned.

Finally, pre-cook separately from the soup and then add them to it, or cook directly in the soup?

Thanks.

[noamnety]

1. I am not going to claim to be an expert

but I use the dry mix fairly regularly, with a basic homemade chicken or turkey soup. Sometimes I'll add fresh dill to the soup. I don't remember why but in my head dill goes into the soup if I use matzo balls but not if I use any other starch instead (potatoes, rice, noodles). I drop them right into the soup to cook. Doesn't seem like they'd pick up as much flavor if they were cooked in water.

Like you, I don't find the premade ones appealing at all.

I cook a lot from scratch (no premade chicken stock here), but also I am lazy, so I don't form perfect round golf balls. I just drop clumps from spoons into the soup. I'm the same way with biscuits, I don't cut out pretty round shapes, I do drop biscuits.

[Warpy]

2. I like them a little smaller than walnuts

which are smaller than golf balls. I also like them seasoned with black pepper and finely chopped parsley. They really don't need anything else, the chicken soup lending all the other flavor they need. They're also considerably better if you use rendered chicken fat as the oil when you put the mixture together, although you can use any old oil on your hands when you're forming the balls.

Don't worry about having them too heavy, that's what the egg does for them, lightens them up a lot. Just don't peek in that pot while they're cooking.

I haven't done them for many years. Now I'm hungry for chicken soup with matzoh balls. I hope I'm not coming down with something.

[tigereye]

12. all the talk about rendered chicken fat (schmalitz! - so that's what that

really means; ;) was a bit over the top for me as I read all the Passover threads- chicken fat and I don't get along too well. But I can see how if you want authentic taste, that would be the way to go.

[Warpy]

13. Even doing it half and half with light oil packs a flavor punch

to the point I'm tempted to say "no substitute."

While I find schmaltz unappetizing by itself, I find it indispensable in some ethnic foods.

[tigereye]

14. I wonder how it became a term meaning extreme sappiness/bathos, though

or maybe poignant scenes in the Yiddish theatre, interesting.

[Warpy]

15. According to Wiki, the first use of "schmalz"

to refer to sickeningly sappy music was in the 1930s, but even they didn't know who originated it.

There are so many wonderful candidates, from the Marx Brothers to other lesser known entertainers and writer/critics.

I do know I react about the same to the sappy music as I do to the thought of eating a big spoonful of unadorned schmalz: I gag.

[tigereye]

16. he he - thanks

[kestrel91316]

3. The bowl of matzoh ball soup I get at Jerry's Deli in LA always has just a

single huge matzoh ball, probably 3-4" in diameter. I don't know if that's Jerry's special way, or traditional.

The box of matzoh ball mix in the kosher section of the market has small balls, maybe walnut size, depicted on the front.

[Duer 157099]

4. I go crazy for matzoh ball soup, it's truly one of my favorites

When I make it, I tend to make the huge balls, baseball sized, just because it's easier than forming a bunch of small ones. And, once they're cooked, you just cut them into pieces and it's the same.

I like to use the Manischewitz matzoh ball mix and add it to chicken stock with carrots, celery and onion.

I have never tried the kind in the jar. I've had it at deli's where they serve it with noodles in the soup, but to me, that's overkill. All I want is the matzoh ball. I don't even need chicken in the soup. Yum!

BTW, the fish is gefelte fish which sort of look like matzoh balls but I can't remember what it tastes like but I'm betting not matzoh.

[Denninmi]

5. Thanks to all of you.

All of that information helps a lot.

I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

And, I too am a lazy cook much of the time, so I'll probably just drop it off a spoon and not form perfect little spheres.

I've never tried gefilte fish either -- I was just laughing at my crazy neighbor lady knowning she thought that's what matzoh balls are made of.

[Denninmi]

17. It turned out really well - we enjoyed it.

I did actually take the time to make proper, spherical matzoh balls. I pre-cooked them in boiling water, and was surprised that actually very little starch came out of them.

It ended up being turkey based rather than chicken, as my sister brought a turkey breast on Saturday, which I roasted yesterday. I used the leftover meat plus stock made from the bones and skin (with fat skimmed) for the soup base, plus assorted non-starchy vegetables.

Overall, probably something I would do again -- fairly easy and quite tasty.

Thanks to everyone for all of your input. Happy Passover and Easter everyone.

[hippywife]

6. I just googled and

came up with this site with recipes:

http://www.jewfaq.org/food.htm

[The empressof all]

7. They're making jarred Matzoh balls!

:wow: And you're sure you didn't confuse it with the gefilte fish which looks a little like Matzoh balls at a quick glance?

I make my balls a bit larger than golf balls but I've had them as large as tennis balls. I add a bit of finely chopped sauteed onion and finely chopped parsley to my balls but YMMV If you add schmaltz to them instead of oil you'll get a far richer flavor. Don't skimp on the salt and pepper either. Make sure your eggs are completely thoroughly beaten. I actually separate the eggs and give the whites an extra beating till very frothy before I add the yolks. (I get it very frothy but not to the soft peak stage...) It keeps the balls light and airy. I cook mine directly in the broth. Make sure you cover and don't peak....I cook on a gentle simmer for about twenty to thirty minutes

PS: You want to make sure your "dough" is cold when you start to form the balls. If it's not cold you'll have a mess. And make sure you are using a big enough pot. The balls really expand. I sometimes cook the balls separately in broth in my chicken fryer which has a wider diameter and allows more room for floating. No soggy balls for me!

[Duer 157099]

8. Crazy huh?

I don't know why but I just can't imagine that the jarred ones are good, but who knows, maybe they're just fine. It just seems like such a small amount, lol. Maybe that's really what bothers me about it.

[Warpy]

9. Have you ever tried those things? They are truly awful

and it's amazing how bad they made something that simple that's so good when it's made by even a nominally competent cook.

[surrealAmerican]

10. The size is not critical, and mainly a matter of family preference.

One of the main points in making them is to not handle them too much. Just get them to roughly spherical, and drop them in the water. I don't much like the mix; they're not really any more difficult to make from matzo meal, and you don't need the additives (most mixes have msg).

For seasoning I usually add just salt, pepper, and parsley.

[noamnety]

11. The only mix I've used is maneschewitz - no MSG there.

Ingredients:
Matzo Meal (Passover Wheat Flour and Water), Salt, Monocalcium Phosphate (leavening agent), Sodium Bicarbonate, Onion, Pepper, Garlic, Celery Seed.

The only issue I might have with them is that the sodium is high. I make sure to salt my broth less if I am planning to use it with that mix.

[pscot]

18. Most of the mixes have bicarbonate

which produces a fluffy (shudder) matzoh ball. Adding seltzer to plain matzoh meal will give you a similar result. I generally fry finely chopped onion in chicken fat and mix that with eggs, salt and plain matzoh meal. The mix needs to chill and hydrolize for a while. How long it sits will affect the density of the dumpling. Longer results in a more tender matzoh ball. Matzoh meal can be hard to come by except around the Jewish holidays. You may want to lay in a supply if you plan to eat them year round.

[eridani]

19. Surely I'm not the only one who's thinking of Allan Sherman, right?

As in My Son the Folk Singer?

Momma's little baby loves matzoh, matzoh
Momma's little baby loves matzoh balls
Momma's little baby wants pots and pots and
Lots and lots of matzoh balls

Put on de skillet
Put on de led
Momma's gonna make a little Pesach bread
And that's not all she's gonna do
She's gonna make a lotta chicken soup

Momma's little baby loves matzoh, matzoh
Momma's little baby loves matzoh balls
Momma's little baby wants pots and pots and
Lots and lots of mat-zoh - oh! - balls