I’m no real slouch when it comes to making Matzo Balls. Generally mine are pretty soft and tasty, if I do say so myself, although they seem to vary in consistency with each batch.
I was always told to plop, not roll because it makes them hard if you roll, so I just accept that my balls are small, lumpy and oddly sized and shaped.*
I’ve tried seltzer, I’ve tried chicken fat, I’ve tried nyafat, but even with those fluffifying additives, whenever I try to make them round, they get hard and tough. And when I make them too big, the inside stays raw.
But you walk into any Kosher deli and order the soup, and you get these gorgeous, huge, completely spherical, soft like butter, delicious balls.* What’s the secret? Anyone got the inside scoop?
*the word Matzo intentionally left out of these sentences for those who wish to giggle at the double entendre. Enjoy.
sorry to ruin your day, but there is a law that says good Matzo balls should NOT be soft, round, and fluffy. They should be like golf balls–hard,solid, knobbly- and best cut with a knife, not a soup spoon; something to chew on, to keep your stomach filled.
Matzo balls were invented to fight the hunger pains that your poor, starving ancestors lived with constantly, when they couldnt afford meat.
Besides, my bubby made them that way, and don’t you try tellin’ me that she was wrong.
oops, on preview I see that this is GQ, not cafe society… But I’m gonna post it anyway…
The first time I made my jewish wife matzo balls, I followed the recipe on the back of the matzo meal box. I’d probably only eaten matzo balls two or three times before in my life. When they were done she tasted them and looked at me in shock. “How did you get them so light and fluffy?”
So simply following the instructions on the box apparently works OK. I guess her mom who has some food OCD issues probably over-handled them and compacted them, or didn’t pay attention to cooking time, or who knows what.
My wife’s matzo balls come out very fluffy when she uses a bit more oil and water than the recipe calls for. The recipe we have calls for 1/2 cup of matzo meal, 2 eggs, 2 tbsp. each of oil and water and 1 tsp of salt. My wife uses 3 tbsp of oil and of water, and that made the balls very fluffy.
My Grandmom’s secret is to separate the eggs, and then beat the egg whites before folding them in with the other ingredients. (Plus she adds a bit of nutmeg.) And Grandmom’s cooking is the best!
At my house my mother made both hard and soft matzo balls. If i recall correctly, the hard ones have double the matzo meal (and can really back you up, so to speak)
Thanks for the advice everyone, I already do add more oil than the recipe says. That definitely adds to the fluffiness, but even then, if I try to roll them round, they get a bit tough. I’ll have to try the separated eggs technique, and the lid on the pot technique. I’m still curious what delis do. Anyone have firsthand experience working in one?
What do people think about cooking the matzo balls in the soup vs. in water. All the recipes say to do it in water and then move them to the soup, but I find them more flavorful when cooked right in the soup.
They’re definitely more flavorful, but they also suck up a ton of soup. If you’re in a commercial situation, with tons of broth around, that’s probably no big deal, but every drop of my chicken soup is precious.