Zama Moldavian: recipe with photos, ingredients, tips and recommendations for cooking

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Prepared by: Daria Vakulova

12/30/2018 Cooking time: 2 hours 0 minutes

Zama - chicken soup with homemade noodles, seasoned with bran kvass. Kvass is added to taste, but the zama should be sour. Every Moldovan housewife knows how to cook zama. Shall we reveal their secrets?

Calorie content of foods possible in the dish

• I category chicken – 238 kcal/100g
• Chicken category II - 159 kcal/100g
• Chicken, flesh without skin - 241 kcal/100g
• Chickens – 140 kcal/100g
• Onion - kcal/100g
• Egg white - kcal/100g
• Egg yolk – 352 kcal/100g
• Egg powder – 542 kcal/100g
• Chicken egg - 157 kcal/100g
• Ostrich egg - 118 kcal/100g
• Carrots - kcal/100g
• Boiled carrots – kcal/100g
• Dried carrots – 275 kcal/100g
• Flour – 325 kcal/100g
• Fortified whole durum wheat flour – 333 kcal/100g
• All-purpose whole durum wheat flour – 364 kcal/100g
• Coarse flour – 348 kcal/100g
• Dry spices – 240 kcal/100g
• Celery root - kcal/100g

Calorie content of foods: Chicken, Carrots, Onions, Celery root, Dry spices, Eggs, Flour

With garlic and tomatoes

We invite you to take note of another delicious recipe for Moldavian zama soup. You will need:

• three potatoes;
• one carrot;
• a bunch of parsley;
• one onion;
• three cloves of garlic;
• one red bell pepper;
• one tomato;
• homemade noodles;
• bran kvass (can be replaced with lemon juice);
• one homemade chicken soup.

Prepare this Moldavian zama soup like this:

1. Cut the chicken into portions. Pour boiling water (2.5 l) over the meat and cook the clear broth for 2 hours over low heat, periodically skimming off the foam.
2. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater, cut the onion into cubes, and fry the vegetables.
3. When the chicken is ready, add the onions and carrots. Collect excess fat.
4. Cut the tomatoes into cubes, bell pepper into strips. Place in a saucepan.
5. Also add diced potatoes and squeeze out the garlic, which will give the dish a delicious aroma.
6. When the potatoes are ready, add the noodles (can be replaced with regular pasta).
7. Salt and pepper the soup, add chopped herbs.
8. Pour kvass into the mixture and let the dish boil again.

Pour the finished soup into bowls and serve.

How to cook?

This Moldavian zama recipe suggests following these steps:

1. Fill a 5-quart saucepan with enough water so that you don't have to add more water while the chicken cooks. Place chicken in boiling water.
2. Cook the bird over low heat, skimming off the foam from time to time.
3. Add leeks (Moldavians call them prazh) and parsley root into the broth.
4. Now prepare homemade noodles, because zama does not tolerate store-bought pasta. Break the eggs, season with salt and add as much flour as needed. The dough should be very tight. Roll it into a thin layer, let it air dry and cut it thinly into noodles.
5. When the meat begins to fall off the bone (after a couple of hours), add the vegetables cut into strips into the broth: onions, carrots and sweet red bell peppers.
6. Next, add the noodles to the broth.
7. 5 minutes before readiness, season the zama with sour bread kvass (Moldavians call it borsh). Pour in as much kvass as you want, but the dish should be sour. By the way, kvass can be replaced with lemon juice.
8. When the soup boils, remove it from the heat. Add salt and fresh herbs: dill, parsley, lovage (leushtyan).
9. Cover the pan with a lid and leave for 10 minutes.

Pour the aromatic soup into bowls and serve.

Zama with beans and chicken

To prepare a traditional Moldovan dish, you need to follow the instructions below.

Cooking steps:

1. Cook the chicken over high heat. As soon as the water boils, remove the foam, add salt and cook the meat until soft.
2. After this, the chicken should be removed and used for another dish.
3. Filter the broth and add to it all the chopped vegetables (2 carrots and 2 onions) and roots (celery and parsley).
4. Wash two hundred grams of green beans, remove veins and cut into small pieces.
5. All components must be cooked for about 20 minutes.
6. Then pour in 1 cup of heated kvass, add herbs and black pepper.
7. Bring the broth to a boil and remove from the stove.
8. Separately, beat 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of sour cream and pour into a saucepan with soup.
9. Mix everything and heat over low heat for about 1 or 2 minutes.
10. The Moldavian dish must be served hot and seasoned with 1 large spoon of chopped cilantro.

Chorba village

To prepare a traditional dish, you must follow the following cooking steps:

• Boil 500 grams of meat with a whole onion, and then remove it from the broth.
• Add all the chopped vegetables to boiling water (1 carrot, 2 potatoes, half a white cabbage, leek, celery and parsley roots, and green beans).
• When the vegetables have boiled a little, you need to pour in boiled kvass (500 ml).
• You can season Moldavian meat soup with kvass with herbs and red pepper.
• The dish should be served with sour cream.

You may be interested in: Cabbage soup without potatoes: recipes

Moldavian lamb shulum

To prepare a delicious dish, you need to follow the instructions below:

One kilogram of lamb must be washed, placed in a deep bowl and filled with water. Boil the liquid and remove the foam and cook for about 2 more hours. After this, remove the meat and separate it from the bones. The bones must be discarded and the lamb returned to the broth. Chop all the vegetables (three onions - finely, five tomatoes - medium, and two peppers - into strips) and throw into the pan. Wash one eggplant, peel it, cut it into cubes and throw it into the broth. Peel five potatoes as well, but throw them whole into the pan. Cook the soup a little and add hot pepper, thyme, cumin, basil, salt and ground pepper. You need to cook the first dish for about fifteen more minutes. Then remove the soup from the stove and leave for thirty minutes. Before serving, shulum is sprinkled with chopped herbs.

Chorba with noodles and beef

The preparation of a delicious dish is as follows:

Zama recipe - Moldavian soup. Calorie, chemical composition and nutritional value.

Nutritional value and chemical composition of “Zama - Moldavian soup”.

The table shows the nutritional content (calories, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals) per 100 grams of edible portion.

The energy value of Zama, a Moldovan soup, is 43.5 kcal.

** This table shows the average levels of vitamins and minerals for an adult. If you want to know the norms taking into account your gender, age and other factors, then use the “My Healthy Diet” application.

How to cook zama in Moldavian style

Sear the chicken, cut into pieces and wash.

Bring to cook over high heat. When the foam rises, remove it and reduce the heat to low. Remove foam from time to time

Zama should not boil, this is very important! The broth should be transparent, with a pronounced amber color.

Cook over low heat for about forty minutes. Fry the chopped parsley and carrot roots, if available, and celery in a frying pan without oil and place in the pan with the chicken. This trick will give the broth a pleasant taste and aroma.

Add a whole onion or 3-4 shallots, it turns out very tasty, as shallots are very aromatic, toasted roots, peppercorns, salt. Cook over low heat until almost done.

While the meat is cooking, prepare homemade noodles.

With lemon and potatoes

Consider the recipe for Moldavian zama with lemon. Take:

• two carrots;
• 3 liters of water;
• three onions;
• chicken – 700 g;
• two eggs;
• two potatoes;
• 160 g flour;
• juice of one lemon;
• pepper;
• salt;
• parsley;
• two tbsp. l. water (for noodles).

This recipe with a photo of a Moldovan deputy stipulates the implementation of the following actions:

1. Pour water over the chicken, boil, and drain the first broth. Then pour 3 liters of water into the pan with the chicken, add whole carrots and washed, unpeeled onions. Peeled carrots and onions will give the broth an attractive amber hue. Cook the bird until done.
2. Whisk the eggs with water, add flour. Knead the dough into a stiff dough, gather it into a bun and leave to “rest” for 30 minutes.
3. Then knead the dough again, roll out thinly and cut the noodles.
4. Place the noodles on a baking sheet, then put them in the oven and set the temperature to 50 °C. Turn on the fan. Leave the noodles to dry for 30 minutes. Don't forget to stir it so that it dries evenly.
5. 20 minutes after boiling, remove the carrots and onions from the broth and add the remaining carrots and two onions, peeled and chopped into thin strips in advance.
6. Salt the broth.
7. Peel the potatoes, cut into tiny cubes and add to the soup.
8. When the potatoes are almost ready, add homemade noodles and cook the zama until tender.
9. At the end of cooking, add bay leaf, lemon juice, parsley.
10. Season with pepper and salt to taste, cover with a lid and remove from heat.

Serve the delicious soup with a slice of lemon.

Zama on the cock

We take:

• 2.5 liters of water;
• two carrots;
• 200 ml bran kvass;
• one onion;
• rooster (500 g);
• two parsley roots;
• three egg yolks;
• lovage - 1 bunch;
• black peppercorns;
• 1 tbsp. l. olive oil;
• bay leaf (to taste);
• wheat flour – 250 g;
• parsley (to taste);
• one chili pepper.

Manufacturing process:

1. Cut the rooster into portioned pieces. Place in a saucepan and fill with water. Cook the broth for 2 hours (depending on the age of the bird, the time may vary), collecting the foam, over low heat.
2. Prepare homemade noodles from yolks, flour and olive oil. You should have a stiff dough. Gather it into a ball, wrap it in film, and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then roll out thinly, cut the noodles and leave to dry.
3. Place one unpeeled onion into the broth 20 minutes before it is ready.
4. Chop the onion, parsley root and carrots. Add salt to taste to the broth, add vegetables and cook until tender.
5. Separately, cook the noodles for a couple of minutes, place in a sieve and rinse.
6. Add the noodles to the soup and let it boil.
7. Pour in the kvass, add chopped lovage, and boil again.

Serve the finished zama with parsley.

How to cook “Moldavian Zama”

Rinse the chicken meat, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and let simmer over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Drain off the first broth. Fill with fresh water, add the peeled onion, allspice, bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until the meat is tender and pulls free from the bone, 1 to 2 hours. Remove the meat and strain the broth.

Wash and peel the vegetables.

Chop the onion and garlic, grate the carrots on a coarse grater, and finely chop the lovage (or celery). Ideally, vegetables are cut into thin strips. Place the vegetables in the broth and cook for 10 minutes. Boil the noodles in a separate pan in salted water, drain in a colander, and add to the broth.

About five minutes before the soup is ready, season it with bran kvass. Salt and pepper to taste. Add chopped herbs. Cover with a lid and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Bon appetit!

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Natalie 01/03/2019 23:15 “Reply

Dash, where did you get this secret ingredient? Kolis! Very tasty!

Snezhana 01/12/2020 19:40 “Reply

I didn’t understand about potatoes, it’s in the ingredients, but not in the steps

Melissa 12/30/2018 10:03 “Reply

Great recipe! I was especially pleased with the presence of lovage. He is the secret ingredient of Moldovan housewives

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Description

Literally translated, “zama” has several meanings, one of which is “yushka, broth.” In Moldova, this is the name of the national hot soup, which in the classic version consists of the following components:

• homemade egg noodles;
• lovage and bran kvass;
• broth made from homemade chicken with roots (carrots, onions, parsley root);
• chicken meat;
• thyme and tomatoes.

The soup is served hot with chopped parsley and sour cream. If you order zama in a national restaurant in Moldova, you will be served exactly this dish. Very often it is prepared differently, adding components that have nothing to do with the replacement. Thus, housewives often add potatoes to the list of products described above for satiety.

The soup we are considering was originally prepared only from chicken and its offal, but today you can find zama made from rabbit, fish, and even lean soup.

Famous soups of Moldova

The most famous Moldovan first courses are chorba and zama. In Moldova, chorba is prepared mainly with meat broth. There is also a vegetable part, and rice or potatoes are added for satiety. The main ingredient in this soup is kvass.

You may be interested in: Cheese soup with pork: simple recipes

Zama soup is not much different from chorba. However, it is considered a lighter dish since it is not cooked with heavy meat. Kvass is also added to zama or replaced with lemon juice. There are also other recipes for Moldavian soups.

Step-by-step preparation

1. Zama is a Moldovan national soup. It is simply incredibly delicious!!! The most important component of this soup is sour bran kvass. Unfortunately, it is not sold in Russia, but there are a lot of recipes for preparing it on the Internet. My relatives from Chisinau send me this dry stuff in bags. You can replace with citric acid, but I can’t say the exact proportions, try 0.5 tbsp. spoons onto the pan. It won't be enough, add a little more to your taste.

2. Wash the chicken, cut it and cook. I skin the chicken. Let's make noodles. Beat only the white of 1 egg into a bowl. Add some salt. You can do it with a whole egg, but then you will end up with a lot of noodles. But you can leave it for 1 more soup. Knead a stiff dough. Do not add water under any circumstances!!! Only on the egg!!! Leave it to rest.
3. Check the chicken in the pan. Skim off the foam, reduce the heat so that the broth is clear and add 1 bay leaf and 7-10 black peppercorns. You can grind the pepper in a mortar, or throw it in whole.
4. Cut all vegetables into strips. The thinner you cut it, the more beautiful the soup will be. The thickness of the slice does not affect the taste in any way!))) Before slicing, pour boiling water over the tomatoes and remove the skin, but if it doesn’t “confuse” you, you don’t have to do this.
5. When the meat is completely cooked, throw the onion, carrots and celery root into the pan, all at the same time. While this is cooking, let's make noodles.
6. Roll out the dough thinly, 1 mm thick. Cut ribbons 4-5 cm wide and cut into thin noodles.
7. Scatter the noodles on the table and leave for 10 minutes to dry a little.
8. While the noodles were being made, the vegetables were cooked. Add peppers and tomatoes. I do not throw away the stems from the greens, but chop them finely and add them to the soup at this stage.
9. Collect the noodles in a sieve or colander and shake well to remove excess flour.
10. Place the noodle pot on the heat. Salt the water and, as soon as it boils, throw in the noodles. As soon as it foams, turn it off and let it lie in this water for 7-10 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water.
11. Add boiled noodles, herbs and sour kvass 1 tbsp. spoon. The soup will become a little cloudy, don’t worry, that’s how it was intended.))) If there is not enough liquid, add boiled hot water. Add salt and let simmer for 5-7 minutes.

You can cook without noodles, only with vegetables, BUT do not add potatoes under any circumstances!!! You can add sour cream, and if you have a hangover, then eat hot zama with hot pickled pepper. Moldovans have this tradition: the next day, after the feast, the owner invites everyone who attended his celebration - to the zama, i.e. for a hangover!)))

Moldovan cult soup

In fact, the iconic Moldovan soup has almost magical properties. That is why it gained such popularity not only in its own country, but also abroad, because zama helps in the fight against a hangover.

Today, the zama soup recipe is prepared not only from chicken or offal, but also from rabbit, fish, or even lean soup. Of course, in the homemade version of preparing the iconic Moldavian zama soup, you can find various products that are not included in the original classic recipe, such as potatoes. But they began to do this to add satiety to the first course of homemade chicken.

This dish began to be prepared so often that it gained great popularity, along with mamaliga. Over time, zama began to be prepared as a first course in almost every home. So, to make cooking easier for housewives and, of course, to significantly reduce time costs, stores began selling borscht. It can be found both in dry form (concentrate) and in liquid form. This simplifies the process several times.

The zama recipe is based on three components: homemade noodles, poultry (of course preferable, because such meat will give a richer broth), and borscht (sour kvass). Of course, the last ingredient can be replaced with lemon juice, but then the first dish cannot be called classic Moldavian.

But if you don’t find borscht in the store, then you can cook it at home. To do this, you need several products: bran, corn grits, yeast, and herbs (cherries, celery, thyme, thyme). Then a little patience and you will get a large portion of borscht, which will allow you to prepare an excellent dish called zama, the recipe listed above is intended for a large company. The iconic Moldovan soup can be prepared at any time of the year, both with chicken and rooster, the main thing is that your food is prepared with soul.

Simple recipe

Let's study another recipe for Moldavian cuisine. Everyone will like this zama. You will get a very flavorful chicken broth. You will need:

• two onions;
• 250 g pre-made noodles;
• one parsley root;
• one chicken (1.4 kg);
• one carrot;
• two bay leaves;
• dill and parsley - 1 bunch;
• three peppercorns;
• 1.5 tbsp. homemade kvass (can be replaced with lemon juice).

How to prepare Moldavian zama according to this recipe? Follow these steps:

1. Pour cold water over the chicken, add pepper, bay leaf, onion, parsley root and boil. Cook until done, occasionally skimming off the foam.
2. Remove the onion, bay leaf and parsley from the broth.
3. Next, add the diced potatoes and cook until tender.
4. Cut the onion and carrot into cubes, fry and add to the soup.
5. Add kvass, salt and herbs to the dish.
6. At the end, add noodles to the soup, boiled separately until half cooked.

With chicken and bell pepper

We bring to your attention a very attractive recipe for Moldavian zama with bell pepper and chicken. We take:

• one chicken (be sure to buy a fragrant, homemade, yellow one);
• one onion;
• one bell pepper;
• one carrot;
• two eggs;
• 30 g leeks;
• 200 ml kvass;
• two tbsp. flour (1 cup = 200 ml);
• one parsley root;
• salt and herbs (to taste).

Cooking features

• The classic zama soup contains chicken broth, poultry, egg noodles, bran kvass, lovage and vegetables. Most often these are peppers and tomatoes, onions and carrots. Sometimes potatoes or other vegetables are included in the dish to make it more filling. This is acceptable, although it does not entirely correspond to tradition.
• Bran kvass can be replaced with regular bread or flour kvass, as well as lemon juice. The juice of one citrus can replace a glass of kvass.
• If it is impossible to get lovage, it can be replaced with celery, but you need to understand that these aromatic herbs are not identical. You don’t need to add a lot of lovage, otherwise it will not improve, but rather ruin the taste of the dish.
• The most flavorful broth is made from poultry, but you can also make zama from store-bought chicken. Store-bought chicken for soup will cook in 1-1.5 hours, and cut into pieces - twice as fast. Poultry should be cooked for 2-3 hours, even if it is cut.

Zama is served hot at the table, with finely chopped fresh herbs added to the plates. Most often it is parsley.

Moldavian lamb shulum

To prepare a delicious dish, you need to follow the instructions below:

1. One kilogram of lamb must be washed, placed in a deep bowl and filled with water.
2. Boil the liquid and remove the foam and cook for about 2 more hours.
3. After this, remove the meat and separate it from the bones.
4. The bones must be discarded and the lamb returned to the broth.
5. Chop all the vegetables (three onions - finely, five tomatoes - medium, and two peppers - into strips) and throw into the pan.
6. Wash one eggplant, peel it, cut it into cubes and throw it into the broth.
7. Peel five potatoes as well, but throw them whole into the pan.
8. Cook the soup a little and add hot pepper, thyme, cumin, basil, salt and ground pepper.
9. You need to cook the first dish for about fifteen more minutes.
10. Then remove the soup from the stove and leave for thirty minutes.
11. Before serving, shulum is sprinkled with chopped herbs.

Moldavian first course in the oven

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To prepare a Moldovan traditional dish you need the following products:

Cooking steps:

With lemon and potatoes

Consider the recipe for Moldavian zama with lemon. Take:

• two carrots;
• 3 liters of water;
• three onions;
• chicken – 700 g;
• two eggs;
• two potatoes;
• 160 g flour;
• juice of one lemon;
• pepper;
• salt;
• parsley;
• two tbsp. l. water (for noodles).

This recipe with a photo of a Moldovan deputy stipulates the implementation of the following actions:

1. Pour water over the chicken, boil, and drain the first broth. Then pour 3 liters of water into the pan with the chicken, add whole carrots and washed, unpeeled onions. Peeled carrots and onions will give the broth an attractive amber hue. Cook the bird until done.
2. Whisk the eggs with water, add flour. Knead the dough into a stiff dough, gather it into a bun and leave to “rest” for 30 minutes.
3. Then knead the dough again, roll out thinly and cut the noodles.
4. Place the noodles on a baking sheet, then put them in the oven and set the temperature to 50 °C. Turn on the fan. Leave the noodles to dry for 30 minutes. Don't forget to stir it so that it dries evenly.
5. 20 minutes after boiling, remove the carrots and onions from the broth and add the remaining carrots and two onions, peeled and chopped into thin strips in advance.
6. Salt the broth.
7. Peel the potatoes, cut into tiny cubes and add to the soup.
8. When the potatoes are almost ready, add homemade noodles and cook the zama until tender.
9. At the end of cooking, add bay leaf, lemon juice, parsley.
10. Season with pepper and salt to taste, cover with a lid and remove from heat.

Serve the delicious soup with a slice of lemon.

Getting ready for a wife

Follow these steps:

1. First, cook the broth. To do this, cut the roots into strips and sauté.
2. Boil the prepared mushrooms and noodles separately.
3. Cut the mushrooms into strips and fry in butter.
4. Pour mushroom broth into the boiling broth, add fried vegetables, cook for 15 minutes.
5. Next, add homemade noodles and fried mushrooms to the soup and cook until tender.
6. At the end of cooking, season the soup with sour boiled kvass or citric acid diluted in water. Add bay leaf, pepper, salt, thyme.
7. Prepare homemade noodles like this. Beat eggs into flour, add salt diluted with water. Knead the stiff dough, cover with a cloth and leave for half an hour to make it easier to roll out. Dust the table with flour, roll out the dough onto it into a thin layer, and leave to dry for 20 minutes. Then cut the noodles.

Before serving, place chicken meat in plates, pour in soup, add sour cream and sprinkle with chopped herbs.

First course with zucchini

This Moldavian soup is easy and simple to prepare:

1. To prepare it, you need to peel and wash one zucchini.
2. Cut it into small pieces and boil along with one onion.
3. Pour the water in which the vegetables were cooked into another bowl, and grind the zucchini through a sieve.
4. Then the resulting pulp must be mixed with two liters of vegetable broth.
5. Fry semolina (4 large spoons) in butter, diluting with water.
6. The resulting mixture must be poured into the boiling broth and simmer for a few more minutes.
7. At the end of cooking, add salt, ground pepper, 0.5 cups of sour cream, chopped herbs and turn off the heat.

With mushrooms

For the soup you will need:

• one onion;
• water - 6 glasses;
• one carrot;
• cow butter - two tbsp. l.;
• ½ chicken;
• salt;
• fresh mushrooms – 400 g;
• half a parsley root;
• two tbsp. sour kvass or a pinch of citric acid;
• bay leaf;
• ground black pepper;
• sour cream – ½ cup;
• chopped greens – 2 tbsp. l.

For noodles take:

• two eggs;
• flour - 1 cup;
• salt;
• water – 0.5 tbsp.