Ingredients
Broth
- 1whole chicken, or 1.2 kg chicken pieces
- 2.5 litreswater
- 2carrots, sliced
- 1parsnip, sliced
- 1parsley root, sliced, optional
- 1onion, halved
- 1red pepper, chopped
- 2 teaspoonssalt
Liaison
- 400 mlsoured cream
- 3egg yolks
- a ladleful of hot broth
To finish
- 1whole head of garlic, crushed
- 3 tablespoonswhite vinegar
- or the juice of 2 lemons
- salt and white pepper
- a handful of parsley, chopped
To serve
- hot chillies, whole
- extra soured cream
- bread
Directions
- Put the chicken in a large pot. Cover it with all the cold water. Starting from cold draws flavour into the broth. Bring it slowly up to a simmer. Skim it off carefully with a spoon. Keep skimming until no more rises. This soup should be clean and pale. Add the carrots, parsnip and parsley root.
- Add the halved onion and chopped pepper. Season it well with plenty of salt. Let it cook for about forty-five minutes. Never let it boil hard at any point. Lift the chicken out onto a plate. Let it cool enough to handle safely. Pull all the meat off the bones.
- Discard the skin and the bones. Shred or dice the chicken meat. Return the meat to the broth pot. Crush it to a paste with a little salt. Others stir it into the hot soup to soften it.
- Beat the soured cream in a bowl. Beat in the egg yolks until smooth. Now take a ladleful of hot broth. Pour it into the cream while whisking hard. Add a second ladleful the same way. Cold cream in hot soup curdles instantly.
- Take the soup off the heat entirely. Stir constantly as you pour it in. Return the pot to a very low heat. Warm it through for three minutes only. Never let it boil after the liaison goes in.
- Stir in all the crushed garlic. Add the white vinegar in gradually. Taste as you go and stop when it is right. It should taste markedly sour. Season it with salt and white pepper. White pepper keeps the soup looking clean. Stir in most of the chopped parsley. It should be creamy, garlicky and sour together.
- Add more vinegar if it tastes flat. Add more cream if it is too sharp. Serving it is done hot in deep bowls. Ladle it out while it is steaming. Scatter the rest of the parsley over. Put whole hot chillies on the table. It keeps two days refrigerated.
Technique
- The soup was created in Radauti in Bukovina in the nineteen seventies as a chicken version of ciorba de burta, the tripe soup, for people who did not want tripe.
- Ciorba means a sour soup in Romanian, and a soup without that sourness is called a supa instead.
- The soured cream and egg yolk liaison must be tempered with hot broth before it goes into the pot, and the soup must never boil afterwards.
Substitutions
- Lemon juice can replace the vinegar for a softer sourness.
- Chicken thighs alone make a good broth if a whole bird is not available.
Variations
- Some households use even more garlic than this.
- Ciorba de burta, the tripe soup, is made the same way with tripe.
- Ciorba de perisoare, with meatballs, is another Romanian favourite.
History
Invented in Rădăuți in Bukovina in the 1970s as a chicken version of tripe soup.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ciorba radauteana?
Ciorba radauteana is a soup & stew from Romania: creamy sour chicken soup with garlic, soured with cream and vinegar. Invented in Rădăuți in Bukovina in the 1970s as a chicken version of tripe soup.
How long does Ciorba radauteana take to make?
Ciorba radauteana takes 20 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Ciorba radauteana?
Yes, within limits. Lemon juice can replace the vinegar for a softer sourness. Chicken thighs alone make a good broth if a whole bird is not available.
What is the most important thing to get right in Ciorba radauteana?
Add the halved onion and chopped pepper. Season it well with plenty of salt. Let it cook for about forty-five minutes. Never let it boil hard at any point. Lift the chicken out onto a plate. Let it cool enough to handle safely. Pull all the meat off the bones.
