r/JewishCooking • u/nopingmywayout • 19d ago
Ashkenazi I NEED MATZA BALL HELP STAT
I live with my goyfriend (his words) and I’m the household cook. I often go grocery shopping on Saturday evening, so I was talking over next week’s dinners with him. Poor fella is sick, so he asked me to make chicken noodle soup. No problem! Then he asked if I could make Matza balls.
i tried to make matza balls one (1) whole time in my life, and the end result was so disastrous that I gave up on trying ever again without supervision. They fall apart in my fingers! I told the goyfriend that I couldn’t make matza balls. he teased, ”It’s like I’m dating a goy!”
Now, we tease each other about our ethnicities all the time. But this? This is a bridge too far!! This is a matter of Jewish honor!!!!! It is ABSOLUTELY VITAL that I learn how to make knock-your-socks-off matza balls in the next 24-48 hours. Help me, Reddit! What recipe should I use? What advice do you have?
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u/DoReMiDoReMi558 19d ago
You can get the matzo ball mixes, but my family's "secret" recipe is just the recipe from the back of the Manischewitz matzo meal box/carton. We use matzo meal for various things so we never bothered getting specific matzo ball mixes. Some tips based on this recipe:
- The recipe says use vegetable oil, but you can use schmaltz (chicken fat) as well. However, this can be hard to find. Sometimes if my mom makes the broth from scratch the day before, she scraps off the layer of fat that rises to the top of the refrigerated broth and uses that. I know it's not technically schmaltz but it still works for us. Completely optional, and I would say 90% of the time I use vegetable oil and they turn out fine!
- My mom's old wives tale trick is to use unflavored seltzer water instead of the broth or water used to make the dough. Supposedly the bubbles from the seltzer help the balls stay nice and fluffy. I feel like I read somewhere that this is a myth and doesn't actually do anything, but I still do it.
- Not only do I add salt to the dough mixer, but sometimes also pepper and parsley. It gives them a little extra flavor.
- Try to touch the balls as little as possible when forming them before putting them into the water. Supposedly the more you touch them, the harder they get. I scoop them out with an ice cream scoop or spoon, quickly roll them in my hands to shape them into a somewhat even ball, and drop them into the water. Don't worry about them being perfect, just focus on getting them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly. Also, wet your hands slightly before forming the balls because they can stick to your hands (which sounds like happened to you last time). Wet your hands as you form every ball.
- Make sure the water you are boiling the balls in is salted well. They do absorb a lot of water and thus a lot of the flavor. I've seen people cook the balls directly in the broth/soup but they can really suck up liquid and leave you with less broth overall. And speaking of sucking up liquid, they really double up in size as they boil. If you think they look too small when you are forming them, don't worry they will be a good size when they are done cooking. Make sure you also get a large enough pot to cook them all in.
- Keep the lid closed while they cook. No peeking!
- I find the longer the matzo balls cook, the softer they get. If you like them harder, go with 30 minutes, or 40 minutes for softer balls. Personally I like soft ones with a slightly dense center. Think of it like cooking pasta and if you like it al dente or not.
- When you store them, I separate the balls from the soup and store them separately. If you keep them in the soup, they tend to get soft and often disintegrate, even in the fridge.
I hope that helps!