Matzo Balls

Matzo Balls

I have read countless cook books where the authors have waxed poetically about a recipe that had been passed down to them from their mother or grandmother, and  how they still have that recipe in their grandmother’s handwriting on a tattered and stained 3 x 5 card.  I would love nothing more than to say this matzo ball recipe was lovingly passed down to me by my old Russian grandmother, but that’s just not the case. No, I got this particular recipe from You Tube. Yes, You Tube, go figure.

For years I’ve been making matzo balls, but I was just not achieving that lightness and fluffiness which is the cornerstone to the ultimate matzo ball. There are hundreds of recipes out there, with each one claiming to be the best matzo ball you’ve ever tasted. So here I was lost and perplexed, so I turned to the one place where I knew I could find some help. You Tube. In the last couple of years I have found that whenever I was not sure of how to do something, or did not know the answer to some of life’s burning questions, the answer could always be found on a You Tube video.

I was not to be disappointed. This particular You Tube video yielded what I consider to be one of the lightest matzo balls I’ve ever had. The darn thing practically floats on air. I know it’s not brain surgery, but I think whipping the egg whites and the addition of the bubbly club soda were those elusive components that were missing from my previous attempts.

Matzo Balls 

From About.com Food

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup club soda
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pinch of black pepper
• 1 cup matzo meal
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley

Directions

1. With your 4 eggs, separate the whites from the yolks, putting the yolks in a small bowl and the whites in the bowl of an electric mixer.
2. Using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until they are stiff. Add the yolks to this bowl and stir with a rubber spatula until they are incorporated.  
3. Add the club soda and the vegetable oil and stir until incorporated. Next, add the salt, pepper, matzo meal and parsley and stir with your spatula to incorporate. 
4. Your mixture will look loose and soupy, but cover and refrigerate the mixture for an hour, and miraculously the mixture will come together.
5. Bring a large pot (like a stock pot) of salted water to a boil.
6. Take your mixture out of the refrigerator, and place a bowl of vegetable oil next to it. Rub your hands in the oil to keep the mixture from sticking to your hands.
7. Now comes the crucial part! Take about 2 tablespoons of the mixture, and without handling it very much, form it into a ball. Do not compact the mixture, use a very light hand. This will make for a light and fluffy matzo ball. Trust me!
8. Place all the matzo balls into the boiling water. Cover the pot and keep the water at a low simmer for 30 minutes.

Makes 12-13 matzo balls

Recipe: Easy

Mama’s Tips

If you are not serving the matzo balls right away, place them in a container covered 1/4 of the way with either chicken broth or water.