Chicken Corn Soup - Lancaster County, PA
When I was growing up in Lancaster, PA, this soup was sold as a fundraiser by all the volunteer Firemen Women's Auxillaries. We'd take our own containers and fill up on the soup which contained fresh corn grown on the neighboring farms. This version of the recipe is my favorite. You may use fresh or frozen corn. If you wish to freeze the soup, cool and do so before adding the rivels.
When I was growing up in Lancaster, PA, this soup was sold as a fundraiser by all the volunteer Firemen Women's Auxillaries. We'd take our own containers and fill up on the soup which contained fresh corn grown on the neighboring farms. This version of the recipe is my favorite. You may use fresh or frozen corn. If you wish to freeze the soup, cool and do so before adding the rivels.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg beaten
- -- soup ingredients --
- 1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces, (4-5 pounds)
- 3 quart water
- 1 large onion cut in quarters
- 8 whole pepper corns
- 2 tablespoons salt or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed saffron or 8 to 10 strands (optional)
- 8 ears white corn or 4 cups frozen corn kernels
- 3 stalks celery coarsley diced with leaves
- 2/3 cup parsley chopped
- 2 eggs hard-boiled, chopped
- -- rivels (noodles) --
- 1 pinch pepper ground
- 3/4 cup flour more if needed
- Carbohydrate 66.4922389583333 g
- Cholesterol 106.145 mg
- Fat 16.4833547916667 g
- Fiber 1.60186042790612 g
- Protein 24.373604375 g
- Saturated Fat 4.219370875 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (320g)
- Sodium 111.468083333333 mg
- Sugar 64.8903785304272 g
- Trans Fat 1.71355825 g
- Calories 504 calories
Step-by-step
- Place chicken in soup pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and skim foam as it rises to the surface. When it has subsided, add onion, peppercorns, salt, and saffron. Simmer gently but steadily, partly covered, for about 1-1/2 hours or until tender.
- Remove chicken. Trim and discard bones and skin, and onion. Let soup cool, then skim fat from surface. Tear meat into spoonable pieces and return to soup.
- Cut kernels from 4 ears of corn, then grate kernels from remaining 4 ears using the large side of a box grater, catching all milk and pulp in a large bowl. If using frozen kernels, puree half in a food processor or blender, adding a little soup if liquid is needed. Add whole kernels and grated or pureed corn to soup along with celery and noodles, egg barley, or rivels.
- Simmer gently until corn and noodles or rivels are cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in parsley and serve, garnishing each portion with chopped hard-cooked egg.
- This soup freezes well, but do that before adding the noodles, barley, or dumplings. Prepare those when reheating soup.
- Stir salt and pepper into egg and add 2/3 cup flour and beat. Keep adding and beating in flour until mixture is crumbly but a bit sticky. Rub between hands or pinch off pea-size pieces and drop them into simmering soup. Cover loosely and let cook for about 15 minutes or until rivels solidify. To make the rivels ahead of time, cook them in lightly salted boiling water or some extra soup stock and then drain and reserve them to be reheated in the soup just before it is served.
Standard chicken soup relies solely on clear broth and soft noodles, but regional Lancaster County versions introduce substantial thickening through starch management. Achieving the correct mouthfeel requires careful handling of both the corn and the pasta components.
Using whole kernels alongside grated corn transforms the broth entirely. Scraping half the corn against the large holes of a box grater releases raw starch and milky pulp into the liquid, acting as a natural thickening agent. Simmering this mixture without scorching requires maintaining a gentle bubble rather than a rolling boil, keeping the bottom of a heavy-bottomed pot free of caramelized sugars.
Rivels bridge the gap between drop dumplings and traditional noodles. Mixing flour directly into a beaten egg yields a sticky, crumbly dough that must be pinched off in pea-sized amounts. Dropping these directly into simmering liquid allows the exposed surface starch to gelatinize instantly, thickening the surrounding broth while retaining a chewy interior. Cooking takes roughly fifteen minutes; when a rivel floats and loses its raw flour taste in the center, it is done.
Simmering a whole cut-up chicken for ninety minutes extracts maximum gelatin from the bones, providing body to the water base. Cooling the strained stock before final assembly allows solidified fat to be easily lifted off the surface with a spoon. This step prevents an oily slick from masking the sweet flavor of the fresh white corn kernels.
The Starch Mechanics of Grated Corn
Using whole kernels alongside grated corn transforms the broth entirely. Scraping half the corn against the large holes of a box grater releases raw starch and milky pulp into the liquid, acting as a natural thickening agent. Simmering this mixture without scorching requires maintaining a gentle bubble rather than a rolling boil, keeping the bottom of a heavy-bottomed pot free of caramelized sugars.
Forming and Cooking Rivels
Rivels bridge the gap between drop dumplings and traditional noodles. Mixing flour directly into a beaten egg yields a sticky, crumbly dough that must be pinched off in pea-sized amounts. Dropping these directly into simmering liquid allows the exposed surface starch to gelatinize instantly, thickening the surrounding broth while retaining a chewy interior. Cooking takes roughly fifteen minutes; when a rivel floats and loses its raw flour taste in the center, it is done.
Fat Rendering and Broth Clarity
Simmering a whole cut-up chicken for ninety minutes extracts maximum gelatin from the bones, providing body to the water base. Cooling the strained stock before final assembly allows solidified fat to be easily lifted off the surface with a spoon. This step prevents an oily slick from masking the sweet flavor of the fresh white corn kernels.
