Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken Broth
- 1500 g whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
- 3000 ml water, cold
- 300 g carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
- 200 g celery, cut into large chunks
- 150 g yellow onion, halved, skin left on for color
- 150 g parsnip, peeled and halved
- 20 g fresh dill, whole sprigs
- 20 g fresh parsley, whole sprigs
- 15 g salt
- 3 g black peppercorns, whole
Bone Marrow Balls
- 80 g beef bone marrow, softened at room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 65 g gluten-free matzah meal
- 5 g fresh parsley, finely minced
- 3 g salt
- 1 g black pepper, freshly ground
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 789 kcal
- Protein
- 64 g
- Carbohydrates
- 32 g
- Fat
- 45 g
- Fiber
- 13 g
- Sugar
- 5 g
- Sodium
- 3052 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 9 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 7 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 13 g
- Cholesterol
- 62 mg
- Potassium
- 606 mg
- Calcium
- 171 mg
- Iron
- 10.3 mg
- Magnesium
- 77 mg
- Phosphorus
- 950 mg
- Zinc
- 2.5 mg
- Vitamin A
- 483 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 18 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.3 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 7.7 mg
- Vitamin K
- 92 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 1.9 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 5.6 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.28 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.82 mg
- Niacin
- 5.0 mg
- Folate
- 254 mcg
- Water
- 785 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Place the chicken pieces, onion, celery, parsnip, and cold water into a large stockpot. Wash your hands and all work surfaces thoroughly after handling the raw chicken to prevent cross-contamination. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil at 100°C/212°F over high heat.
Once boiling, immediately reduce the heat to low to maintain a gentle simmer at around 90°C/195°F. Skim off any grayish foam or impurities that float to the surface. Add the fresh dill, parsley sprigs, peppercorns, and salt. Simmer gently, partially covered, for 2 hours.
While the soup simmers, prepare the marrow mixture. In a mixing bowl, vigorously whisk the softened beef bone marrow until completely creamy and smooth. Add the eggs and whisk until the mixture is fully emulsified and pale.
Add the gluten-free matzah meal, minced parsley, salt, and black pepper to the marrow and egg base. Gently fold the ingredients together until just combined. Do not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. Allow the dough to chill and hydrate the starches for at least 30 minutes. This prevents the marrow balls from falling apart during cooking.
Using a fine mesh strainer, carefully strain the finished chicken broth into a clean pot. Discard the spent herbs, onion, celery, and parsnip. Pick the chicken meat from the bones and set it aside with the sliced carrots. Discard the bones.
Bring the strained broth back to a gentle simmer at 90°C/195°F. Remove the chilled marrow dough from the refrigerator. With wet hands, scoop small portions of the dough and gently roll them into 20g spheres.
Carefully drop the shaped marrow balls into the gently simmering broth. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and let them poach undisturbed for 30 minutes. Ensure the internal temperature of the cooked dumplings and any reserved chicken added back to the pot reaches 74°C/165°F.
Return the reserved carrots and shredded chicken to the pot just to warm through. Ladle the hot golden broth and marrow balls into deep bowls, garnishing with fresh dill before serving.
Chef's Notes
- Starting chicken stock with cold water rather than hot is crucial. Cold water extracts proteins slowly, which coagulate into larger clusters that float to the top, making them much easier to skim for a crystal-clear broth.
- Gluten-free matzah meal absorbs liquid differently than standard wheat-based matzah meal. If the chilled dough feels too crumbly to roll after 30 minutes, work in a teaspoon of water at a time until it holds together.
- Leaving the outer papery skins on the yellow onion is a classic technique to imbue the chicken broth with a deep, appetizing golden color.
- When poaching the dumplings, resist the urge to peek or remove the lid during the first 20 minutes. The trapped steam is essential for them to puff up perfectly.
Storage
Refrigerator: 4 days — Store the marrow balls separately from the broth so they do not over-hydrate and disintegrate.
Freezer: 3 months — Freeze the completely cooled broth in airtight containers. Marrow balls can be frozen separately.
Reheating: Gently simmer on the stove until the internal temperature of the marrow balls reaches at least 74 degrees Celsius.
Troubleshooting
Marrow balls disintegrated in the soup
Cause: The dough was not chilled long enough to hydrate the starches, or the soup was boiling too vigorously.
Fix: Cannot be fixed once disintegrated, but the resulting broth will become incredibly rich and flavorful.
Prevention: Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for a full 30 minutes, and ensure the soup is kept at a gentle, bare simmer while cooking.
The chicken broth is cloudy or greasy
Cause: The soup boiled too aggressively, emulsifying the fat and impurities into the liquid.
Fix: Pass the finished soup through a coffee filter or clarify using an egg white raft if crystal clear presentation is desired.
Prevention: Maintain a strict, gentle simmer and skim the surface diligently during the first 20 minutes of cooking.
Cultural Context
Marrow dumplings, known as Markkloesschen in Central European traditions, were adopted into Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine as an elevated, luxurious alternative to the standard matzah ball. Using bone marrow instead of chicken fat yields a uniquely rich, melt-in-your-mouth texture that has been prized for holiday meals and special occasions for generations.
