Greek Style Chicken Lemon Rice Soup Aka Avgolemono Food

GREEK LEMON CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE (KOTOSOUPA AVGOLEMONO)

Steps:

• To prepare this traditional Greek lemon chicken soup, place your chicken in a deep pot. Push the chicken with your hands down to the bottom of the pan, add the whole onion, the carrot, pour in the water and season. The water should be enough to cover the chicken. Place on high heat, put the lid on and bring to the boil.
• When the chicken starts to boil, turn the heat down and boil the chicken for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The chicken is ready when the meat can be removed easily from the bones. While the chicken boils, some white foam will probably surface on the water. Remove the foam with a slotted spoon.
• Proceed to pre soak your rice. While the chicken is cooking, rinse your rice and add it in a bowl and cover it with some water. Let it stand for 30 minutes. Using a fine colander, drain the water and set aside.
• Remove the chicken from the broth and strain the broth. You should have about 1 litre of broth left. If it has reduced a lot, add some water. Add the hot broth in another pot, add the rice and season with salt and pepper and boil, until done.
• While the rice is being cooked, prepare your chicken. Pull the chicken meat from the bones and discard the skin. Shred the meat into bite sized chunks.
• To prepare the egg lemon sauce for this Greek lemon chicken soup, crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk, until foamy; add the lemon juice and whisk again. Add into the bowl a ladle of hot soup and whisk quickly. Add one more ladle and whisk again, so that the eggs gradually warm up and cook gently. Pour the egg mixture back into the pot, whilst constantly stirring so your eggs do not curdle. Then put the lid on and set it aside for 3-4 minutes.
• To assemble and serve your chicken soup, ladle the soup into your bowls, top with the diced chicken and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper or paprika. Enjoy!

GREEK LEMON AND CHICKEN SOUP (AVGOLEMONO)

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium-low heat. Add carrot, onion, and celery. Cook, stirring continuously, until vegetables start to soften and turn translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add chicken broth, parsley, and oregano. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Add chicken and orzo. Reduce heat to a simmer.
• Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a heat-safe bowl or glass measuring cup. Add the lemon juice and whisk until well combined.
• Slowly add a ladle of hot broth to the egg mixture, whisking quickly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Repeat with a few more ladles until the egg mixture is hot and steaming. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and whisk until incorporated.
• Add 1/2 of the lemon zest to the soup; reserve remaining zest for another use. Taste soup; if too lemony, add chicken bouillon. Add hot pepper sauce, salt, and pepper. Cook until orzo is tender yet firm to the bite, about 5 more minutes. Serve immediately.

GREEK-STYLE CHICKEN LEMON RICE SOUP AKA AVGOLEMONO

Steps:

• Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large stockpot over high heat. Add the chicken breasts and then lower to a simmer. Simmer until the chicken is just cooked through and the internal temperature registers 160 degrees F, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the chicken to a bowl. Once cooled, shred the chicken and reserve.
• Add the rice to the pot with the chicken stock and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes.
• Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks in a large bowl. Whisk together the egg yolks and most of the lemon juice in a medium bowl, reserving some juice to add later as needed. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites. Once combined, ladle in some hot stock to temper the egg mixture, stirring constantly and adding the hot liquid slowly. Add the lemon zest and shredded chicken with any reserved juices to the soup and, very slowly, add the warm whipped egg/lemon mixture. Whisk to incorporate the egg mixture and prevent any curds or clumps from forming. Continue to cook over medium-low to medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the soup thickens, about 10 minutes more.
• Season with salt and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper and add the remaining lemon juice if necessary. Add most of the parsley. Garnish individual bowls with the remaining parsley.

GREEK LEMON CHICKEN SOUP AKA AVGOLEMONO

Steps:

• In a large stockpot, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add the chicken breasts and then lower to a simmer. Simmer until the chicken is just cooked through and the internal temperature registers 160 degrees F, 15 to 20 minutes; remove to a bowl. Once cooled, shred the chicken and reserve.
• Add the orzo or rice to the pot with the chicken stock and cook until al dente, 5 to 8 minutes.
• In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and most of the lemon juice, reserving some to add later as needed. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites. Once combined, ladle in some hot stock to temper the egg mixture, whisking constantly and adding the hot liquid slowly. Very slowly, add the warm whipped egg/lemon mixture into the pot, whisking constantly to prevent any curds or clumps from forming. Continue to cook over medium-low to medium heat, whisking, until the soup thickens, about 10 minutes more.
• Add the shredded chicken and any reserved juices to the soup. Add the lemon zest and season with salt and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper. Taste and add additional lemon juice if needed. Garnish with chopped parsley.

CHICKEN SOUP (GREEK, WITH AVGOLEMONO - EGG/LEMON SAUCE)

Steps:

• Put chicken, water, parsley, onion and salt in a large pan and bring to a boil.
• Cover pan and let simmer for 45 minutes.
• Remove chicken and parsley, discard parsley.
• Let chicken cool a bit, so you don't burn yourself, and cut into cubes.
• Set aside.
• Add rice, carrot and celery to broth and cook for 20 minutes.
• Add lemon juice to the soup.
• Stir.
• Turn off heat.
• Beat the eggs and cornstarch in a small bowl.
• While whisking, slowly dribble in hot chicken stock- never stop whisking.
• Do this until you have used up a couple of ladlefuls of stock.
• This tempers the eggs so they do not curdle.
• Slowly add egg to the hot soup and give a good stir.
• Add chicken and serve, sprinkled with a bit of pepper (if desired).
• Note: I would just like to point out that the eggs in this soup are not raw - they are cooked by the hot stock. That is what the tempering process is all about (and to make sure the eggs don't curdle :-) ).