Greece: Avgolemono

Name: Greece: Avgolemono
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: chicken broth: 6 cups; eggs: 3; white long grain rice: 1 cup; lemon juice: 1/2 cup; boneless skinless chicken: 2 breasts; salt and pepper: to taste; fresh dill: 1 bunch; lemon zest: of 1 lemon

Greek Egg & Lemon Soup with Chicken

Legend has it that in Greek kitchens, cooks make a kissing sound when adding the egg-lemon mixture to the broth, a superstition thought to keep the egg from curdling.

Cuisine:

Greek

Ingredients

6 cups chicken broth
homemade is key here!
3 eggs
1 cup white long grain rice
uncooked; traditionally Orzo, but I had rice and it was great
1/2 cup lemon juice
from 2 fresh lemons
2 breasts boneless skinless chicken
cooked and shredded
to taste salt and pepper
1 bunch fresh dill
of 1 lemon lemon zest

Directions

The name of this classic soup comes from its two main ingredients: egg (avgo) and lemon juice (lemoni). It’s common across Mediterranean countries, thought to have been brought to Greece by the Sephardic Jews. Legend has it that in Greek kitchens, cooks make a kissing sound when adding the egg-lemon mixture to the broth, a superstition thought to keep the egg from curdling. In addition the the kissing noise, you also need to make sure you’ve turned the heat very low, pour the mixture in slowly and beat consistently.

The funny thing is that this wasn’t the dish I’d planned to make for Greece – I’d been planning to make Moussaka. I actually stumbled on this recipe while trying to find a starter to serve with the yet-to-be-made dish I have planned for the Philippines. But when I discovered Avgolemono, I knew I wanted to make it as a main dish! This was a very satisfying main course with pita and a Greek-style salad, but you could also leave out the chicken and serve this as a starter. This is a creamy soup, but you won’t find any dairy in the ingredients – the silky texture is from the tempered eggs. There are many variations of this recipe across the web, but they’re all very similar and beautifully simple, with limited steps and a handful of ingredients. I took my favorite components from each variation and combined into the recipe you’ll find below. While this was lovely on a winter night, it would also be a refreshing summer soup!

Recipe Source: inspired by many versions available in cookbooks and on the web.

Steps

1 Done	Bring broth to a simmer in a dutch oven or large pot; add chicken and reduce heat. Simmer gently until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken to a bowl and let cool until ready to handle.
2 Done	With broth at a simmer, add rice and cook until al dente (just nearly cooked). Once the chicken is cool, shred it into bite size pieces. Once the rice is cooked, return the chicken to the pot; stir in the dill and the salt and pepper, to taste. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting.
3 Done	In a separate bowl, whisk together egg and lemon juice in a small bowl. Whisk the egg mixture into the broth, careful at this point it's not boiling - you want to temper the eggs, not scramble them!
4 Done	Ladle the soup into four bowls and top each with lemon zest and chopped dill.