Düğün Çorbası — Turkish Wedding Soup

A rich, lemony lamb soup thickened with egg yolk and yogurt and served with paprika butter.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 2h
Total: 2 hours 15 minutes
Vegetarian
❌
Nuts
❌
Serves
6 people
Difficulty
Easy

Ingredients

  • 500g lamb shoulder or neck, on the bone
  • 1.8 litres water
  • 1 onion, halved
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 50g butter
  • 4 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 150g thick plain yogurt
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • For the topping: 30g butter
  • For the topping: 1 tsp paprika
  • For the topping: 1/2 tsp dried mint

Method

  1. Put the lamb, water, onion and bay leaf in a large pan. Bring to the boil, skim off any scum, then cover and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes until the meat is very tender.

  2. Lift out the lamb, shred the meat and discard the bones. Strain the stock and keep about 1.5 litres.

  3. Melt the 50g butter in a clean pan, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes without colouring. Gradually whisk in the hot stock and simmer for 10 minutes until smooth and slightly thickened.

  4. Whisk the egg yolks, yogurt and lemon juice together in a bowl, then whisk in a ladleful of the hot soup. Pour the mixture back into the pan and stir over a very low heat for 2 minutes without boiling.

  5. Stir in the shredded lamb and season to taste.

  6. Melt the butter for the topping, stir in the paprika and mint and sizzle for 20 seconds. Drizzle over the soup and serve.