Matzo Ball Caldo

Here’s a take on the Filipinx dish, arroz caldo. I made the broth as I would arroz caldo, but without the rice and fish sauce. I remixed traditional matzo balls by adding ginger and green onions to the dough. In arroz caldo, browning the chicken first allows for the chicken fat to render. No need to do that here since I used straight up chicken fat instead of oil. Schmaltz is magic, ya’ll.

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Matzo Ball Caldo

Yield

about 9 matzo balls, 4-6 servings of soup

Ingredients

Soup

• Two 32 ounce boxes of chicken broth
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 10 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken, cut into about 1-inch pieces
• 4 tablespoons of chicken fat/schmaltz
• Kosher salt
• Lemon or calamansi wedges

Matzo Balls

• 1/2 cup of matzo meal
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 3 stalks of green onion, thinly sliced
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons of chicken fat/schmaltz
• Kosher salt

Toppings (optional)

• Fried garlic
• Soft boiled eggs
• Thinly sliced green onions

Preparation

Soup

1. In a large dutch oven pot on medium heat, add schmaltz. 
2. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
3. Stir in chicken and cook just until the outer rawness appears cooked, about 2 minutes.
4. Add a generous pinch of salt and pepper. 
5. Add chicken broth and cover. 
6. Simmer on medium low heat for about 20-30 minutes and then taste for salt.

Matzo Balls

1. In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, schmaltz, green onions, ginger, matzo meal, and a generous pinch of kosher salt.
2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. After 30 minutes, use a 1-inch ice cream scoop to scoop dough. Hand roll into balls. Return to fridge as you boil water.
4. Fill a braiser pot with about 2 inches of water and bring to a boil.
5. Add matzo balls to the pot, leaving some space in between the balls. Lower heat to medium low.
6. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Finish

1. Ladle soup into a bowl and add a matzo ball.  Squeeze a wedge of lemon or calamnsi into the soup.
2. Optional: add toppings.