AI-generated image
Ciorbă de pui cu tarhon
Chicken soup with tarragon
Ciorbă ardelenească de pui: Transylvanian chicken soup with tarragon, vinegar and sour cream
Tarragon grows in almost every garden in Transylvania, from Saxon villages near Sibiu to the Hungarian towns of Harghita, and it is what makes this chicken soup taste of the region. Pieces of chicken simmer with root vegetables and potato, the pot is soured with a splash of vinegar, and at the end sour cream and a big handful of chopped tarragon go in, giving a pale, creamy broth with a gentle aniseed lift. Unlike the egg-thickened soups of Moldavia, this one stays light and brothy. It is eaten as the first course of a Sunday lunch, with fresh bread and a hot pepper. A common mistake is adding the tarragon too early; long cooking turns it bitter and grey, so stir it in just before serving. Chef's tip: a spoon of tarragon pickled in vinegar, as Transylvanian cooks keep it, does the souring and flavouring in one.
- Total time
- 75 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the soup
- 10 ½ cups cold water
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 2 carrotsdiced
- 1 parsley root or parsnipdiced
- 3 ½ oz celeriacdiced
- 10 ½ oz waxy potatoespeeled and diced
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tsp black pepperfreshly ground
To finish
- 7 oz sour cream (20% fat)
- ½ oz fresh tarragonleaves chopped
- 6 fresh hot pepper (optional)
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (6)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Put the 2 ¼ lb chicken legs, thighs and wings in a large pot with the 10 ½ cups cold water and 2 tsp salt, bring slowly to the boil and skim off the foam for a few minutes, until the broth looks clear.
15 minStep 2: Lower to a bare simmer and cook for 25 minutes.
25 minStep 3: Meanwhile heat the 2 tbsp sunflower oil in a frying pan over a medium-low heat and soften the 1 onion, 2 carrots, 1 parsley root or parsnip and 3 ½ oz celeriac for 8 minutes, until fragrant and just tender, without browning.
8 minStep 4: Add the softened vegetables, 10 ½ oz waxy potatoes, 1 bay leaf and ½ tsp black pepper to the pot and simmer for 15 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender and the chicken reads 165°F at the thickest part next to the bone.
15 minStep 5: Lift out the chicken, pull the meat from the bones into bite-sized pieces and return it to the pot. Remove the bay leaf.
6 minStep 6: Stir in the 3 tbsp white wine or tarragon vinegar, then taste; the soup should be clearly but gently sour.
1 minStep 7: Whisk the 7 oz sour cream (20% fat) in a bowl with two ladles of hot broth until smooth, then take the pot off the heat and stir it in.
2 minStep 8: Stir in the ½ oz fresh tarragon and serve straight away, with a 6 fresh hot pepper on the side. Reheat leftovers gently without boiling.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 300 kcal
- Protein
- 27 g
- Carbs
- 13 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does ciorbă de pui cu tarhon take?
- About 75 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 55 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of carrots?
- Parsnip or sweet potato, same weight.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Tiyula itumBlack beef soup
Tiyula itum, 'black soup', is the pride of the Tausug people of Sulu in the far south of the Philippines, cooked for weddings, Eid celebrations and when guests come home. Beef (it is a halal, pork-free dish) is simmered with ginger, lemongrass and turmeric, then darkened with pamapa itum, a paste of grated coconut toasted until almost black and pounded with spices. The broth looks dramatic but tastes smoky, earthy and gently peppery, with heat from chillies. Serve it with plain rice. Chef's tip: toast the coconut slowly, stirring all the time, until it is very dark brown but not ashy; burnt-to-ash coconut tastes bitter and ruins the soup.
Filipino
Ful nabitSprouted fava bean soup
Sprouted beans are ladled out with their cooking liquor in Cairo homes when the weather turns cold or someone is feeling run down, and Egyptians swear by the broth as a pick-me-up. The beans are soaked and left to sprout for a few days, then simmered with onion, garlic and cumin into a light, earthy soup that is sharpened at the table with plenty of lemon. You can eat the beans with a spoon or pop them from their skins. Allow 3 to 4 days for sprouting, although the hands-on work is only about 20 minutes. People with G6PD deficiency (favism) must not eat fava beans. Chef's tip: stop the sprouting when the shoots are about 1 cm long; longer sprouts taste grassy and bitter.
Egyptian
BabboucheSpiced snail broth
After dark in Marrakech's great square, the babbouche stalls are recognisable by their steaming cauldrons and the toothpicks laid out by every bowl. Small land snails simmer in a dark broth of liquorice root, aniseed, thyme, caraway, bitter orange peel, chilli and a bundle of herbs that sellers say has fifteen ingredients, believed to soothe the stomach and warm you on a cold night. You pick the snails out with a toothpick, then drink the peppery, herbal, faintly sweet broth. At home, buy live snails sold for cooking, already purged by a reputable seller, discard any with broken shells or that do not move or retract when touched, and cook them through for at least 45 minutes. Chef's tip: keep the spices in a muslin bag; the broth stays clear and you avoid crunching on seeds.
Moroccan