How to Make Matzoh Balls with Joyce Goldstein

Published on Wednesday, December 1, 2010, by Leslie Jonath and Blake Smith / Edit Post

How to Make Matzoh Balls with Joyce Goldstein

By Leslie Jonath and Blake Smith

Chef, author, and consultant Joyce Goldstein is a culinary hero, and she has heroic ways with matzoh balls. She suggests babying the dough, using schmaltz for chicken-y flavor, and boiling the matzoh balls for a good, long time. Try out Goldstein’s recipe for Matzoh Ball Soup.

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  • matzoh balls made with eggs whites and seltzer water?? help please

  • are these lite?

  • Made these and love them so much I freeze them in packets so I can always have matzo ball soup. Did she mention cooking some of the crispy bits of chicken fat that are left over when I made the schmaltz in the middle of the balls? B/c I did that and it was wonderful. Hm..now I can't remember where I read that..going to watch the video again

  • I never met a matzoh ball I didn't like

  • great commerical

  • In this case, I think it is more "If your are doing it like this, you are not doing it MY way" than it is "you're doing it all wrong." Most people will like motzoh balls the way they grew up eating them.

    Some like them light and fluffy, some like them heavy, some like them bland, some like them flavored by the broth they were cooked in. And no one is wrong, they're just different. Although many...+READ

    In this case, I think it is more "If your are doing it like this, you are not doing it MY way" than it is "you're doing it all wrong." Most people will like motzoh balls the way they grew up eating them.

    Some like them light and fluffy, some like them heavy, some like them bland, some like them flavored by the broth they were cooked in. And no one is wrong, they're just different. Although many will insist that their way is the RIGHT way. :)-COLLAPSE

  • I happen to prefer the heavier style.

  • Light and fluffy is one way to serve matzoh balls and dense and nutty is another. Insisting one or the other is what's wrong here. My Hungarian family serves them on the heavier side and my Russian family serves them on the lighter side. Each has its merits and each is a matzoh ball.

  • Someone at work said that their wife, in quest of super-light maztoh balls, tried to steam them in a shallow soup bowl placed in a bamboo steamer. Her theory that boiling them was likely to result in their breaking up. Even so, they disintegrated.

  • Two things:
    1) although she doesn't mention it, Joyce Goldstein's video shows the matzoh balls being cooked in a covered pot. This is very important as it helps to build up steam inside the pot. DO NOT open the lid for a peak until at least 30 minutes have gone by. This practically guarantees light matzoh balls.
    2) something to try: my mother and her mother always made the lightest, fluffiest...+READ

    Two things:
    1) although she doesn't mention it, Joyce Goldstein's video shows the matzoh balls being cooked in a covered pot. This is very important as it helps to build up steam inside the pot. DO NOT open the lid for a peak until at least 30 minutes have gone by. This practically guarantees light matzoh balls.
    2) something to try: my mother and her mother always made the lightest, fluffiest matzoh balls just following the directions on the box...all brands have a similar recipe but my favorite is from Streits. She would always cover the pot, though. My father's mother, on the other hand, made canon balls (my brother and I would play catch at the seder table with them. My grandmother screaming in the background, "it's food. You don't play with food.") Anyway, to compromise between her mother-in-law's leaden cannon balls and her own light-as-a-feather dumplings, my mother would take the cooked matzoh balls, put them on an oiled cookie sheet and bake them until golden - about 375 degrees for 20 minutes. They would develop a marvelous crust but be soft and light inside. Such great appetizers as well as soup accompaniments. [sigh] Oh for the good old days.-COLLAPSE

  • Thanks for the tip, guess you can tell I'm not Jewish :) I've just googled the Marais area and can't wait to check out the Kosher stores (and the neighbourhood) when I'm next in town. I may be a gentile, but I know what good food looks like, and I'm going to buy a kilo of Matzoh...

  • frenchgirl, matzoh in French is Matzoh. Get thee to the Marais in Paris and you will no doubt find it in one of the Jewish stores.

  • Does matzoh have a different name in French? I never see any in the part of rural France where I live, and I've seen so recipes for it on your website that I would love to give it a go.

  • oops. pain = pan. Lol nice typo 'eh.

  • i agree with benbenberi but these are probably worth a try. they wouldn't be the same nostalgia kick for me but if you're using schmaltz lack of flavour from not cooking in the broth shouldn't really be a problem, especially with such an airy end product that looks like it has enough of a roughed-up surface to hold quite a lot of broth per mouthful.

    @mdzehnder -- matzoh meal is crumbed matzoh,...+READ

    i agree with benbenberi but these are probably worth a try. they wouldn't be the same nostalgia kick for me but if you're using schmaltz lack of flavour from not cooking in the broth shouldn't really be a problem, especially with such an airy end product that looks like it has enough of a roughed-up surface to hold quite a lot of broth per mouthful.

    @mdzehnder -- matzoh meal is crumbed matzoh, and any supermarket/deli with a Kosher section will stock it. just looks like fine bread crumbs really.

    schmaltz can be home made quite easily. cut chicken into small bits and melt in a pain on low-ish heat. can add onions. you take the melted fat, strain it thru cheesecloth and keep in a jar. it keeps for ages.

    but if you're a bit lazy like me then ask your local butcher what sort of rendered fats they stock. usually they'll have chicken or goose schmaltz in tubs.-COLLAPSE

  • Matzoh meal is ground-up matzohs - the matzoh version of bread crumbs. (But you can NOT substitute bread crumbs or cracker crumbs for matzoh meal in a recipe.) Look for it in the kosher food section of your store, or else there are probably a bunch of online sources you can google.

    For schmaltz, if your store has a refrigerated kosher section you might be able to find some there, otherwise just...+READ

    Matzoh meal is ground-up matzohs - the matzoh version of bread crumbs. (But you can NOT substitute bread crumbs or cracker crumbs for matzoh meal in a recipe.) Look for it in the kosher food section of your store, or else there are probably a bunch of online sources you can google.

    For schmaltz, if your store has a refrigerated kosher section you might be able to find some there, otherwise just strip off the fat from the chickens you buy and render your own. It's easy, and the cracklings are tasty too.-COLLAPSE

  • What is matzoh meal, and where might I find some? Where might I find schmaltz, for that matter?

  • I have my soup going in one pot and matzoh balls going into another. Once the matzoh balls are cooked thru, I transfer them to the soup pot. They pick up plenty of chicken flavor and don't add a skimming mess to my soup pot.

    Now, I'm off to make some!

  • I agree with her that you shouldn't cook them in the soup you're planning to serve -- you need to cook them in a separate pot of soup (or broth) that you've set aside for the purpose, so the balls can soak up all they want (and leak starch out into the cooking liquid) and you still have plenty of clean soup to serve them in.

    That's what my mom always did, and her matzo balls were always...+READ

    I agree with her that you shouldn't cook them in the soup you're planning to serve -- you need to cook them in a separate pot of soup (or broth) that you've set aside for the purpose, so the balls can soak up all they want (and leak starch out into the cooking liquid) and you still have plenty of clean soup to serve them in.

    That's what my mom always did, and her matzo balls were always perfect.-COLLAPSE

  • I was with her right up until she said not to cook them in the soup because they soak it up. Isn't that the point? They soak up water when they're boiled in that, too!

    I'd be meeting the wrong side of my Bubbe's good left hand if I followed these directions, so my matzoh balls will continue to be cooked in the soup.

  • It's different from what I know growing up and watching my mother EVERY Friday but hey, the woman has credentials. She must know what she's talking about. Just because it's different, doesn't mean it's wrong. May be worth a try.

  • I agree with Richard 16: my Jewish grandma would be very disappointed in these directions.

    You always cook in the soup. Just make sure you have enough soup. They do taste really bland if you cook them in water.

  • Fluffy? You're making matzoh dumplings, not matzoh balls. Real matzoh balls aren't "cannon balls", but they have a depth of flavor and texture unmatched by dumplings. Matzoh dumplings are textural cousins to puffy bagel-shaped bread. I'd call matzoh dumplings "wimpy" but they're a whole different thing.

    Don't cook in the soup? They tend be bland. OK if you like that sort of thing. Tip: If they...+READ

    Fluffy? You're making matzoh dumplings, not matzoh balls. Real matzoh balls aren't "cannon balls", but they have a depth of flavor and texture unmatched by dumplings. Matzoh dumplings are textural cousins to puffy bagel-shaped bread. I'd call matzoh dumplings "wimpy" but they're a whole different thing.

    Don't cook in the soup? They tend be bland. OK if you like that sort of thing. Tip: If they soak up too much broth - use more broth.-COLLAPSE