moment of cultural cross-pollination

[coraa]

Today I was feeling iffy, so I decided to make chicken soup with rice for dinner.

(Cora's standard chicken soup recipe for two: finely mince half an onion (or a couple of shallots, if you have shallots) and a couple of cloves of garlic. Thinly slice three carrots and two sticks of celery. (It's okay if the carrots and celery are beginning to look long in the metaphorical tooth, since you're going to cook the hell out of them anyway.) In a heavy-bottomed soup pot that has a lid, heat up a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil, or schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) if you have it.* Gently sweat (that is, cook at a low enough temperature that it doesn't quite sizzle) the vegetables in the fat (with about a teaspoon of salt) until they're soft and fragrant, 10-15 minutes. Pour in about a quart of chicken stock (homemade if you have it, low-sodium canned works too, boullion is probably too salty for this). If you're feeling ambitious, you can reduce a cup of white wine to 1/2 cup in a separate pan and add it; if you aren't, just the chicken stock is fine. Add a bay leaf, some ground black pepper, and more salt if the broth seems too flat. Then add two skinless chicken thighs on the bone to the liquid and bring to a boil. When it hits a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer and put the lid on. Cook until the chicken is cooked through (30-ish minutes, but make sure its juices are clear when you stab it with a knife; if they aren't, put it back and simmer longer). When the chicken is cook through, remove to a plate, and let cool until you can handle it, then shred it to bite-size pieces. Meanwhile, add rice or noodles and cook through. When the starch is cooked, return the shredded chicken to the pot, along with fresh sage or thyme or rosemary or parsley, whatever herbs you like,** and heat through. Ladle up and serve.)

Only -- I got to the point where I was simmering, and I asked jmpava to give it a taste, to see if it needed more salt, or pepper, or whatever. (Sometimes when I'm tasting the soup frequently, I sort of lose my ability to judge whether it needs salt, for instance.)

Me: How was it?
Him: Fine. Maybe could use some... hm.
Me: What?
Him: ...Some herbs or something? Maybe?
Me: Yeah, I'm adding sage later.
Him: Yeah, that'd be good.
Him: ...
Him: ...
Him: You know what it tastes like?
Me: What?
Him: It tastes like it needs matzoh balls.
Me: Yeah?
Me: I can do matzoh balls.
Him: Really?
Me: Sure.
Him: That'd be yummy.

I hadn't realized until just now that matzoh ball soup (his childhood comfort food) and chicken soup with rice (my childhood comfort food) differed really only by starch. But there you go! That's kinda cool, really.

Me: It probably doesn't hurt that I started it with schmaltz.
Him: Heh.

* - Part of the reason that I buy whole chickens and cut them up is so that I can always arrange to have schmaltz, because omg, yum. Also, that ensures a steady supply of homemade chicken broth.
** - If you're looking for recommendations, I like thyme or sage best for chicken soup.

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