Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Corn Soup
Rivels — part dumplings, part free-form pasta — are a favorite addition to Pennsylvania Dutch soups and stews.
INGREDIENTS | SERVES 6–8
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 rib celery, sliced
4 cups corn kernels
10 cups chicken broth
1½ cups diced chicken
1 cup flour
1 egg
½ teaspoon water
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large soup pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery; sauté 3 minutes. Add corn; continue to cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Add broth; reduce heat to medium and simmer 30 minutes. Stir chicken pieces into broth.
Bring soup to a boil over high heat. Pour flour into a bowl. Beat egg and water; add to flour, stirring into a thin paste. With a fork or medium-gauge sieve, drizzle flour mixture into boiling soup. Reduce heat to medium. Stir gently; cook 10 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper.
Dutch as in Deutsch
The Pennsylvania Dutch kitchen brings together centuries-old German cooking traditions and the bounties of Pennsylvania agriculture. By religious belief or by custom, the modern descendents of the German settlers of southeastern and central Pennsylvania prize a simple life in which nothing goes to waste. That means canning and pickling fruits and vegetables, using all parts of a slaughtered animal, preserving meats, and finding ways to stretch the harvest by making breads, noodles, pies, and tarts.
