Something Old, Something New

How to make chicken rivel soup like your grandma – with a few modern conveniences 🙂

Who doesn’t love a bowl of homemade rivel soup? For those of you who aren’t from the South central part of ND, it’s homemade chicken noodle soup except that the noodles are little pieces of dough about the size of rice but with much more flavor!

The old-fashioned version involved simmering the chicken and other soup ingredients for hours on the stove and making the dough for the rivels and the rivels themselves by hand. To be honest, I don’t even know how to make rivels by hand. One of the first pieces of advice my late mother-in-law gave me over 35 years ago was to buy a food processor so I could make rivels easily. 🙂 Some people still do it the old-fashioned way.

My version uses the same ingredients, but I use a food processor to make the rivels and my Instant Pot to make the soup. That cuts the soup cooking time down to 45 minutes (and we’re talking a huge Hutterite chicken being fall-off-the-bone soft) and about 5 minutes for rivel prep. I’m also including one way to use up the chicken – cream chicken, also known to my family as “Dungas.” (I don’t know how to spell in German but the u is long, like in drool 🙂 ).

The first step is to get the soup cooking. Here is what you’ll throw in the pot:

• 1 large whole chicken, skin left on
• 1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
• about 2 cups each chopped onion, celery, and carrots
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1 Tbsp pepper
• a soup ball/tea ball with a Tbsp pickling spice, a couple of bay leaves and 2-3 crushed cloves of garlic
• water to the max line of the instant pot

Set the pot to 45 minutes. (Tip: I usually add some water to the pot first and then put the pot on the saute function while I prep and add the rest of the ingredients. This will save some time getting it to pressure.)

Now, while the soup is cooking, you’ll have time to make the rivels. The ingredients are simple:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 5 eggs
• a couple of Tbsp water – if needed

Put the flour, baking soda, and salt in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix it.

Turn the processor on and pour in the eggs slowly, mixing until it forms a stiff dough. If you need to, add a little water, a couple Tbsp at a time. The dough can appear a little crumbly – as long as it holds together when you press it.

Now that it’s formed a dough, remove about half of it and set it aside. Sprinkle a few Tbs of flour over the remaining dough and pulse until it forms the rivels. Dump them onto a clean dishtowel and repeat with the other half of the dough. Spread them out in a thin layer and let set until you are ready to put them in the soup. The dishtowel will absorb any extra moisture or flour and allow the rivels to dry slightly so they don’t stick together when you throw them in the soup.

When the 45 minutes is up, let the pressure naturally release for 10-15 minutes then do a quick release.

Pull just the chicken out of the pot and set it on a plate to cool a bit. (If you have picky eaters who object to a few vegetables in their soup tell them to make their own dinner – or if you’re feeling indulgent or you’re the picky one, just strain out all the other ingredients and return the plain broth to the pot.)

At this point I skin and debone the chicken. I put the tiny pieces from the back, ribs, neck, and wings back into the soup. I cut the breast meat into several smaller pieces so it can soak up more dungas! I also reseason the chicken with salt and pepper. Pour a mixture of about 3/4 heavy cream, 1/4 ketchup, and a Tbsp or two brown sugar over the chicken. (Don’t judge – it’s comfort food, not health food!) I only made a little cream sauce this time. You can make more and serve it over mashed potatoes or make just enough to flavor and moisten the chicken and soak up with some bread. Simmer the cream chicken over low heat, stirring occasionally until the soup is done.

Okay, back to the soup. Hit the saute button on the pot and when the broth comes to a boil, pour in the rivels. Let them cook for about 10 minutes. Your soup is ready! Serve with the traditional south central ND condiments of ketchup and cinnamon (don’t judge until you’ve tried it :))

If you don’t want to make the cream chicken, you can use the chicken for chicken salad, chicken enchiladas, or any of your other favorite uses for cooked chicken.

Also, please note that some of the measurements above are approximate. I usually measure with my eyes and my hands. Adjust according to your taste.

Thank you for hanging out with me. Please ask questions or comment and let me know how you like it!