Yayla Soup (Yayla çorbası)
Overview
Yayla çorbası, the 'highland soup', is a silky, tangy yogurt soup thickened with rice. Plain yogurt is whisked with egg yolk and a spoon of flour, then slowly tempered with hot stock so it does not split, and stirred into a pot of tender rice. The finishing touch is butter sizzled with dried mint, poured over each bowl in a fragrant green-flecked swirl. It is mild, comforting and a favourite starter in Turkish restaurants, and many people reach for it when they feel unwell.
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History
The name links the soup to the yayla, the high summer pastures of Anatolia where herding families moved with their flocks and where milk and yogurt were plentiful. Yogurt-based soups have a long history in Turkic and Anatolian cooking, and many regional versions exist with wheat, chickpeas or noodles. The rice version described here became the standard one found in city restaurants across Turkey.
Main ingredients
Yogurt, rice, egg yolk, flour, dried mint, butter. The soup is built on yogurt and stock and is usually served hot. Diet: vegetarian; usually gluten-free.
Recipe outline serves 4 · ~35 min
Ingredients
- 80 g rice
- 1.2 l chicken or vegetable stock
- 400 g plain yogurt
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp flour
- 30 g butter, 1 tbsp dried mint
Method
- Simmer the rice in the stock until soft, about 15 minutes.
- Whisk yogurt, egg yolk and flour until smooth.
- Whisk a few ladles of hot stock into the yogurt mixture, then stir it into the pot.
- Heat gently, stirring, until just simmering; do not boil hard.
- Sizzle the butter with mint and drizzle over the soup.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.