My Best Moroccan Chorba
The word chorba simply means soup, though it's most often used to describe this particular soup. This is only one version of the popular soup, and it is my version. Moroccans do not favor hot spicy foods, and I will repeat that harissa is just not something we use at all! I have never seen it in a home kitchen or local restaurant. Go to a big tourist FRENCH-Morocco restaurant and find harissa because you will not find it anywhere else. You may be able to purchase a dusty jar to bring home with you. I have seen it in US specialty shops and/or aisles, with each and every label stating "a Moroccan staple condiment" or words to that effect. I am dismayed at the number of people who just don't listen because of tourist traps and/or lousy "authentic" food writers who have only had Moroccan food at fine dining establishments or wealthy friends' homes where "Court Food" is often served. These are not, dear friends, the REAL foods of Morocco.
The word chorba simply means soup, though it's most often used to describe this particular soup. This is only one version of the popular soup, and it is my version. Moroccans do not favor hot spicy foods, and I will repeat that harissa is just not something we use at all! I have never seen it in a home kitchen or local restaurant. Go to a big tourist FRENCH-Morocco restaurant and find harissa because you will not find it anywhere else. You may be able to purchase a dusty jar to bring home with you. I have seen it in US specialty shops and/or aisles, with each and every label stating "a Moroccan staple condiment" or words to that effect. I am dismayed at the number of people who just don't listen because of tourist traps and/or lousy "authentic" food writers who have only had Moroccan food at fine dining establishments or wealthy friends' homes where "Court Food" is often served. These are not, dear friends, the REAL foods of Morocco.
- salt to taste
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp oil
- 250 g beef or chicken
- 2 carrots
- 2 small white real turnips not rutabagas
- 2 large potatoes
- 2 branches celery
- 3 very ripe red tomatoes or 2 tbsp. tomato concentrate puree
- 1 bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
- 2 cups vermacelli or thin spaghetti
- 2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tsp freshly ground turmeric
- Carbohydrate 51.712352 g
- Cholesterol 16.5 mg
- Fat 6.617912 g
- Fiber 4.5901200694561 g
- Protein 12.862316 g
- Saturated Fat 1.999332 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (228g)
- Sodium 47.841 mg
- Sugar 47.1222319305439 g
- Trans Fat 0.894876000000002 g
- Calories 318 calories
Step-by-step
- Add the oil to a stew pot and have medium hot when meat and vegetables are ready. Don't heavily brown anything though. Peel and cut the vegetables into little pieces(except tomatoes), put them inside a stew pot ,add the meat cut in little pieces, the garlic, plus the vegetables with parsley (tie parsley into a folded bundle using a stem or kitchen string. Here, someone always eats what remains of the bundle),crushed onion (grated or very finely minced),oil salt, pepper and turmeric. Add 2 ltres of water, put the pot on until boiling.
- Remove the tomato cores, wash them and plunge them for 30 seconds into boiling water before peeling them, crush the pulp with a fork in a bowl or on a plate, put the tomatoes in the pot and mix. Cover and leave it cook on a medium fire for 60 minutes.
- 10 minutes before serving, break pasta into one quarter inch pieces and throw vermecilli in rain (scatter). Stir and cover the pot by three quarters and leave it to cook. Serve as soon as it is cooked. Pasta is done. Please do not cook your Moroccan dishes with pasta al dente; al just isn't to be found. We think that he left for America!
While many grain-based soups rely on heavy purees and fiery spice pastes, chorba depends entirely on the clean balance of fresh root vegetables and mild aromatics. Unlike heavier regional stews that are built on aggressive browning and intense chili heat, this preparation highlights the natural sweetness of carrots, turnips, and tomatoes simmered gently in plain water. Fresh tomatoes, plunged into boiling water for exactly 30 seconds to loosen their skins, yield a brighter flavor and lighter acidity than canned concentrates or heavy purees. Grating or finely mincing the onion allows it to dissolve completely into the broth during the initial hour of cooking, forming a naturally thickened base without requiring starches or flour.
Mastering the Pasta Addition
Timing the addition of the vermicelli or thin spaghetti is the single technique that determines success or failure in this recipe. Break the pasta into quarter-inch lengths and scatter it across the simmering liquid like rain only ten minutes before serving. Stir the pot immediately to prevent clumping as the wheat rehydrates. Unlike Italian cooking customs, traditional preparation requires cooking the pasta completely through rather than leaving it al dente, ensuring it absorbs the aromatic broth fully.
- If the broth reduces too quickly during the initial 60-minute simmer, add hot water in 250-milliliter increments to maintain the correct soup-to-solid ratio.
- Should the grated onion release too much liquid before hitting the pot, retain the juices because they contribute necessary moisture for sweating the aromatics in the initial tablespoon of oil.
- Keep the heat at a steady medium flame throughout the hour-long simmer so the vegetables soften uniformly without disintegrating into mush.
