Belgian recipe
How to make Ghent waterzooi
Gentse waterzooi
Ghent, in East Flanders
A creamy soup-stew of chicken or fish with carrots, leeks, celery and potatoes, enriched at the end with cream and egg yolk.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs or 800 g chicken thighs
- 1.2 litres chicken stock
- 2 carrots and 2 leeks, cut in thin strips
- 2 sticks of celery, sliced, and 1 onion, chopped
- 4 waxy potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks
- 30 g butter
- 150 ml single cream and 2 egg yolks
- Chopped parsley, salt and pepper
Method
- Simmer the chicken in the stock for about 35 minutes until cooked through. Lift it out, remove the skin and bones and pull the meat into large pieces.
- Meanwhile soften the onion, carrots, leeks and celery in the butter for 10 minutes without browning.
- Add the vegetables and potatoes to the stock and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Put the chicken back in.
- Whisk the cream and egg yolks in a bowl, then whisk in a ladle of the hot soup. Pour this back into the pot and heat gently, stirring, until the soup thickens a little and is steaming hot all through. Do not let it boil.
- Season, sprinkle with parsley and serve in deep plates with bread.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
Waterzooi was first made with river fish. The usual explanation for the switch to chicken is that the rivers around Ghent became too polluted for fish.
Take the trip to Belgium
