chicken corn rivel soup with browned butter
Author: 
Recipe type: soup
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 celery ribs, chopped
  • 1-2 bay leaves
  • 6 med-small carrots (approx 7.5 ounces or 216 g), chopped
  • 2 15-ounce cans of low sodium chicken broth plus enough water to make 2 quarts of liquid
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (for rivels) + 2 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (for drizzling)
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 large egg yolks, beaten with 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 ears fresh, steamed corn, kernels cut from cobs (or 1 cup frozen corn)
Instructions
  1. Cook onion, celery, and carrots in oil over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add broth, water, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon salt to the pot. Cover and simmer to flavor broth, about 30 minutes. Add the chicken breasts and simmer until cooked through about 15 minutes.
  3. Shred breast meat and reserve for the soup later.
  4. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until nutty brown, about 2-3 minutes. Allow to cool.
  5. Set broth over medium-high heat.
  6. Meanwhile, place flour in a bowl and make a well in the center. Add the yolk mixture and 6 tablespoons of the browned butter to the well. Using your hands, mix until incorporated.*
  7. Pinch the dough between your fingers to form ½-inch pieces (the rivels). Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
  8. Add the rivels, one at a time so they don't stick together, to the simmering soup.
  9. Gently stir in the corn and reserved shredded chicken and simmer until rivels are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Taste and add more salt, if needed. Serve, drizzling each portion with the remaining brown butter (don't forget this step - brown butter on soup is AWESOME).
Notes
* The original recipe said to use only 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 yolk with 1 tablespoon of water. I felt the mixture was too grainy and wasn't coming together, so I kept adding the melted butter, then another yolk, and a little more water until it looked more like a dough. I read different versions of the recipe to decide what the dough should look like: some is crumbly, some is more sticky. I went for the kind of crumbly but sticky dough. ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE (also detailed in my post): The original recipe said to make the stock with chicken thighs, then "reserve the thigh meat for another use." Why would I make CHICKEN stock for CHICKEN soup, then use the meat for ANOTHER USE? I considered making the stock from the thighs as directed, then using that meat for the soup. However, I also wanted to make this recipe a little easier with a little less hot stove work in the summer, so I opted to skip the thighs altogether, use the suggested breast meat for the soup, and used canned broth for the soup. Any broth will do, but I caution against "full sodium" canned broth as you may end up with a very salty soup. You could try one can of full sodium broth, then use water to make up the difference to 2 quarts of liquid. It's best to cook with less salt in the beginning, then add more after all soup components are in the pot.
Recipe by story of a kitchen at https://www.storyofakitchen.com/soup-recipes/chicken-corn-rivel-soup-with-browned-butter/