Sarge's Deli Recipes: Matzo Balls

April 22, 2019

What would Passover be like without a great bowl of matzo ball soup? Matzo represents the unleavened bread the Jews ate when they were fleeing Egypt, but how did the matzo ball originate?

Back in the 1800s, Jewish people would get their Matzo bread form local bakeries. Back then, the matzo balls would be made from the leftover crumbs. Originally matzo balls were called knoedel by the Germans and Austrians and knoedela by the Polish.

By the 1930's the Manischewitz company started packaging the product in the United States and labeled them "Alsatian feathery balls." So where did the the term "matzo ball" come from? The prevailing theory is that it was comedians and vaudeville performers that gave them that name.

Whatever you call them, matzo balls should be apart of every Passover seder. To make them yourself, you can use Sarge's own recipe.

Sarge's Matzo Ball Recipe

Ingredients

Yields 10 large matzo balls.

- 1 cup matzo meal
- 1/3 cup cracker meal
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon chicken base
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion power
- 3 oz melted schmaltz (fat)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder

Directions

Ready in 30 minutes.

1. Follow these instructions carefully.

2. Measure and mix dry ingredients into a bowl.

3. Individually break the eggs into a second bowl.

4. Add schmaltz to the eggs and stir gently with a fork until the yolks are broken and the oil just mixed.

5. Pour dry mixture into the egg mixture and gently mix with a whisk.

6. DO NOT OVER MIX.

7. Treat it like a muffin mixture; if you over mix they will be tough.

8. Place in the fridge for 1 hour.

9. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil on the stove.

10. After matzo ball mix has set, gently remove teaspoon fulls of the batter and roll into 2" balls and drop into the water.

11. When all the balls are in the water leave it to boil until all the balls float to the top, then lower the temperature to a rolling simmer for 30 minutes and your matzo balls will be ready.

12. DO NOT STIR AT ANY TIME.

13. The matzo balls may be removed from the water with a slotted spoon and served in soup, or placed on a cookie sheet and frozen covered for a later use.

If you don't have the time to make matzo balls yourself, you can always have Sarge's Matzo Balls delivered right to your door. Sarge's offers both local delivery and nationwide delivery of our famous matzo balls as well as all of other other traditional Jewish dishes. You can also have Sarge's cater your Passover meal, or any other holiday or event.

Filed Under: Recipes

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