OT - Matzah Ball help

[vaknitter]

Okay - somewhere along the line my MIL picked-up a few Jewish recipes. One of the hubby's faves is matzah ball soup. I've never made it so I cooked down a chicken and made some awesome chicken soup and decided I would add matzah balls. The hubby says I did them wrong b/c they aren't like his mothers. Now, I have to preface that comment with the fact that his mother is a HORRIBLE cook - seriously. That said I'm thinking my matzah was correct and hers are wrong...but I will ask you ladies. My matzah balls were dense and hubby says his mothers are light and biscuitlike. So who's right? Are matzah balls dense or "light" ? If light, how do you adjust the recipe of eggs, fat, matzah to make them ligher? Do I just need to make them bigger?

[crocee]

Traditional matzoh balls can be either way so your both right.

[etoilechaude]

Ooooh the age old argument!!!!! Personally I like my dense and chewy, but there are many people who prefer the light floaty ones. I'm a pretty darn good cook and I can't seem to make them floaty and light, but I honestly prefer them dense.

I believe there's even a matzo ball throwdown somewhere out in tv interweb land that addresses that exact thing ;o)

[vaknitter]

dense and chewy - that's what mine were. They did float to the top of the soup though.... just don't see how you can make something that is eggs, fat and ground up crackers light and fluffy...biscuits/dumplings are light and fluffy and they contain either buttermilk or baking soda as a leavening agent...

P.S. this really has nothing to do with his mother other than he has only ever eaten her Matzah balls so there is no other basis for comparison. I want to be able to make soup without being told I did it wrong after I spent two evenings after work simmering down a chicken, picking it apart, cutting up veggies, and trying to find matzah meal in a grocery store in the bible belt (bottom shelf, back corner of international food aisle).

[zkimom]

I'm sure that many have consumed dense and chewy matzoh balls but it was always my impression that the ones made correctly were "light and fluffy." At least, I was told that was the goal.

Both my mother and grandmother would complain if their matzoh balls were not lighter than air.

I never tried to make them. I think my mom scared me into thinking they were hard to make because they never seemed to come out the way she wished they would. She still served them and we still ate them (and liked them, however they turned out!)

[knitasha]

My grandmother had a secret for light, fluffy matzoh balls. She passed it on to my mother, who passed it on to me. Two secrets, actually. (And not such big secrets, because they appear in lots of recipes.)
1) Use seltzer for the liquid.
2) Keep the lid on the pot until the balls are done cooking.

In theory, the carbonation in the seltzer creates air pockets that lighten up the dumplings (which is pretty much what matzoh balls are). The steam from the simmering soup does the same thing.

Personally, I like them dense enough that you feel them sitting in the pit of your stomach for a week. Best of all, if you have leftovers, chill them, cut them into slices, and fry them in oil. It's sort of a Jewish polenta.

[offgridgirl]

My mother,aunt and grandmother all made light fluffy matzoh balls. I like them that way but can't eat them cuz of the egg which I'm allergenic to.

I will have to confirm with my Mum but I believe that she whipped the egg whites to make them fluffy! I don't know the ratios but will ask and get back to ya