There is one critical moment in yayla soup: when the yoghurt goes into the pan. Cold yoghurt meeting boiling water will split and the soup turns grainy. The answer is tempering - whisk the yoghurt with egg and flour, then warm it a ladle at a time with liquid taken from the pan. Everything after that is easy.
Ingredients
For the soup
For the egg-lemon thickening
For the top
Method
-
Cook the rice
Put the rice and water in a pan, bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 20 minutes until the grains are completely soft.
-
Make the tempering mixture
In a separate bowl whisk the yoghurt, egg and flour until no lumps remain. The flour binds the yoghurt, and that is what really stops it splitting.
-
Warm the mixture
Pour hot liquid from the pan over the mixture a ladle at a time, whisking constantly. After five or six ladles it will be close to the temperature of the pan.
-
Combine
Pour the warmed mixture back into the pan in a thin stream, stirring as you go.
-
Bring to the boil
Add the salt and bring the soup to the boil, stirring all the time. Once it boils, keep stirring for 3 more minutes, then turn off the heat.
-
Drizzle with mint butter
Melt the butter in a small pan, take it off the heat, add the mint and drizzle it over the soup.
Tips
- Do not stop stirring once the mixture is in the pan. Stopping before the first boil is the most common cause of splitting.
- Use full-fat yoghurt. Low-fat yoghurt splits more easily even with the same technique.
- Do not let the mint sit on the heat; burnt mint turns the soup bitter.
- Do not skip rinsing the rice. The starch from unrinsed rice clouds the soup and stops the tempering holding.
Nutrition
Values are per serving and approximate.