Avgolemono
Greek lemon-egg-rice soup: chicken broth thickened with eggs and finished with lemon juice. Light, lemony, restorative; the Greek answer to chicken soup. Served with shredded chicken from the broth.
Overview
A whole chicken poaches in water with onion, carrot and celery, building broth and tender meat at the same time. Rice (or orzo) cooks in the strained broth. Eggs and lemon juice whisk together, get tempered with hot broth, then stir back into the soup off the heat. The eggs thicken the broth into a velvet finish.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (1 ½ kg) or 4 chicken legs
- 2 onions (peeled, halved)
- 2 carrots (peeled)
- 2 celery sticks
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 2 litres water
- 100 g long-grain rice (or orzo)
- 3 eggs (large)
- 2 lemons (juice)
- salt
- pepper
- A small bunch of dill (chopped, to finish)
Method
Stage 1 - Poach the chicken
- Place the chicken, vegetables, bay and peppercorns in a large pot.
- Cover with the water; bring to a gentle simmer.
- Skim any scum that rises.
- Cook 45 minutes until the chicken is tender and the broth is well-flavoured.
Stage 2 - Strain
- Lift out the chicken; shred the meat from the bones.
- Strain the broth through a fine sieve; discard the vegetables. You should have about 1 ½ litres.
Stage 3 - Cook the rice
- Return the broth to the pot; bring to a simmer.
- Add the rice (or orzo); cook 18 minutes for rice or 8 minutes for orzo, until tender.
Stage 4 - Avgolemono (egg-lemon liaison)
- In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the lemon juice until foamy.
- Slowly ladle in 250 ml of hot broth, whisking continuously (this tempers the eggs so they don't scramble).
- Take the soup off the heat.
- Pour the egg-lemon mixture back into the pot, stirring continuously.
- The soup will turn pale, glossy and slightly thickened. Don't return to high heat or the eggs scramble.
Stage 5 - Finish
- Stir in the shredded chicken.
- Season with salt and white pepper. Taste; the lemon should be assertive.
- Ladle into bowls; top with chopped dill.
Notes
- Temper the eggs: Cold eggs into hot broth = scrambled. Slowly adding hot broth to the eggs first warms them gently.
- Off the heat: Once the eggs go in, no more boiling. The residual heat is enough.
- Lemon juice generously: Avgolemono is a lemon-forward soup; underdone lemon gives an underwhelming bowl.
Storage
- Best fresh; reheating risks splitting the eggs.
- Broth and shredded chicken (without the egg-lemon finish) keep 3 days; add the avgolemono fresh when reheating.
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