Hamburg Eel Soup (Hamburger Aalsuppe)
Overview
Hamburger Aalsuppe is a sweet and sour soup from the city of Hamburg. A broth is made by simmering a ham bone or smoked ham, and vegetables such as carrots, celeriac, peas, kohlrabi and asparagus are cooked in it. Dried fruit, usually pears, prunes and apricots, is added for sweetness, and the soup is soured with a little vinegar and seasoned with many fresh herbs. Small semolina or flour dumplings called Schwemmklößchen are poached in it, and pieces of eel, cooked separately in vinegar water, are added at the end. The mix of ham, fruit, herbs and fish makes it very unusual.
History
The soup is a classic of the old Hanseatic port of Hamburg. A popular story says that the name did not first mean eel at all, but came from the Low German word aal or allns, meaning all, because everything left in the kitchen went into the pot. Visitors expected to find eel in an eel soup, so cooks began to add it. It is still served in traditional Hamburg restaurants.
Main ingredients
Ham, eel, dried pears and prunes, peas, carrot, dumplings. The soup is built on ham broth and is usually served hot. Diet: contains meat; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Pork soups · More soups from Germany
Recipe
Method
- 11 h
Simmer the ham in 2.5 l water for 1 hour, then strain the broth and cut the meat small.
- 215 min
Soak the dried fruit and simmer it separately for 15 minutes.
- 315 min
Cook the vegetables in the broth for 15 minutes, then add the fruit, ham, vinegar and sugar.
- 410 min 5 min
Poach the eel in salted water with a dash of vinegar for 10 minutes, and poach the dumplings in the soup for 5 minutes.
- 5
Add the eel and herbs to the soup and serve.
- ✓
Serve. About 2h 40m from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
