In my childhood this soup was made by my mum either with beef or a hen.
The clear soup is eaten with vermicelli or semolina dumplings.
The leftover cooked meat and vegetables are diced and used to make - with a few other added ingredients - a much-loved Romanian salad, salata de boeuf or “beef salad” (it is still called beef salad although, nowadays, chicken is the commonly used meat). See notes for the recipe.
Enjoy!
clear chicken soup with vermicelli or dumplings
Ingredients
1 whole chicken
3-3.5L water
½ big celeriac, peeled
6 medium carrots, peeled
1 big white onion with skin on (it gives a more intense yellow color to the soup)
1 tbsp black peppercorn
2 cloves garlic
Salt to taste
Fresh chopped parsley leaves and ground peppercorn
To serve: Cooked vermicelli noodles or semolina dumplings
Method
Cook the chicken in the water with salt, around 1 hour (but depends on the size of the chicken).
When almost done, add the celeriac, carrots, onion, peppercorns and garlic. Put a lid on and let it simmer until cooked, around 30 minutes.
Let the soup cool, then gently strain it. This will be the base of your soup. You can add in the cooked carrots, cooked vermicelli noodles or semolina dumplings, fresh parsley and peppercorns.
Semolina dumplings:
Boil water and salt in a large pot on a medium heat.
Mix well 120g semolina with 2 medium size eggs and ½ tsp salt. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
Use a teaspoon, which has been dipped into water, to gently scoop semolina batter into the boiling water. The dumplings will fall to the bottom of the pot. Repeat until you finish the semolina batter.
Once the dumplings surface (gently, check the bottom of the pot with a slotted spoon), let them simmer on a low heat, turning them once. It takes 2-3 minutes on each side. Turn off the heat, cover the pot with a lid and let the dumplings rest for 10 minutes. This helps them get fluffy. Remove them with a slotted spoon and add them into the chicken soup.
Tips & cheats
A tip from my beloved aunt Piri: When you eat a red bell pepper or cook with it, do not throw away the top. Freeze it and use one top for the soup above, by adding it at the same time with all vegetables, then discard it.
In Romania, whenever you cook chicken or beef soup, you also make salata de boeuf or beef salad (the name has stayed the same over the years, although you may cook with chicken): Dice the meat, carrots and celeriac from the soup, add 4-6 diced gherkins, 100g cooked peas, 200g mayonnaise and mix. Leave in the fridge at least 30 minutes, for flavors to develop, before eating. For a meatless salad substitute the meat with cooked potatoes.
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