My Korean friend Jen taught me this Hebrew phrase which goes “man ish ta na ha lila la zeh me call ha le laught” — or something like that — which means "Why is this night different from all other nights?" And then there are a number of replies which all have to do with the specific rituals of Passover. For those of you who don’t know, Passover starts on Friday night and there are some very specific food rules and traditions. I only know a few. But the part I like to concentrate on has to do with eating foods made with matzoh. Matzoh balls have a bad reputation for being heavy and rubbery, some compare them to tennis balls, but Susan has a recipe for the best matzoh balls in town.
Matzoh Balls
Ingredients4 eggs
1/3 cup schmaltz
1/2 cup seltzer
1 tablespoon salt
Pinch of pepper
1 cup matzoh meal
Procedure
This recipe makes 10-12 balls. Break eggs into mixing bowl. Melt chicken fat then add to bowl along with seltzer and salt. Mix well and then add matzoh meal. Place bowl in refrigerator and let rest for 1 hour. Matzoh balls may be cooked in either salted water or chicken stock. To cook, bring water or stock to the boil before removing mixture from frig. With wet hands scoop 2 heaping tablespoons of batter and form a ball, with liquid lowered to a gentle boil, lower matzoh balls into the soup. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes, then serve.
But wait, there’s more!
Matzo Brei
Ingredients2 whole sheets matzoh
2 cups cold water
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
Lots of Butter for frying
Procedure
Break up matzoh into a bowl and pour water over top. Set bowl aside and have a cup of coffee. Scramble eggs and salt into a separate bowl. Now drain water out of Matzoh and add to egg mixture. In a sauté pan, melt about 1 tablespoon of butter and add matzoh egg mix and scramble like eggs till lightly browned. Some like it sweet some like it salty, either way it’s delicious!
