Zeamă Moldovan

Easy·30 min active + 1 hour resting

Moldovan chicken-noodle Sunday soup — chicken simmered with onion, carrot, parsnip, and parsley root, the clear broth strained, and fresh egg noodles cooked in it. Finished with borș (fermented wheat-bran liquid) for tang.

Zeamă is the Moldovan Sunday chicken soup, its signature sourness coming from borș — fermented wheat-bran liquid — and brightened with lovage. Light and tangy, it is the restorative broth of the weekend table.

Spoon up zeamă — pale-golden clear broth with shredded chicken, tender noodles, parsley and dill flecks. Bite: chicken's clean flavor, noodles silky, borș's distinctive tangy-fermented sour cutting through, lovage's celery-herb depth. The fermented sour is the Moldovan signature absent in any other chicken soup. With dark bread, this is Chișinău Sunday lunch.

Slow gentle simmering keeps broth clear. Borș (fermented bran liquid) provides unique fermented-sour flavor. Lovage is the signature herb.

Variations

With added vegetables (potato, peas). With lemon instead of borș. Without noodles. With added rice. With dumplings. Cold version in summer.

On the Palate

Where Zeamă Moldovan sits in the Moldovan flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 6

1 root + 1 tbsp choppedParsley

200 g egg noodlesFlour

200 ml borș (or lemon)Vinegar

How it's made

10 steps · 30 min active + 1 hour waiting

1
4 min
Place 1 whole chicken (1.5 kg) in a large pot with 3 L cold water + 1 onion, 2 carrots, 1 parsnip, 1 parsley root, 2 bay leaves, 6 peppercorns, 1 tsp salt.
2
6 min
Bring slowly to a simmer; skim scum.
Watch out
Bring it up slowly and skim the grey scum as it rises — a hard boil clouds the broth; gentle heat keeps it clear.
3
62 min
Simmer 60 min until chicken is cooked through.
4
14 min
Remove chicken; cool slightly; pull meat off bones; shred.
5
4 min
Strain broth; discard vegetables.
6
2 min
Return broth to pot; bring to a simmer.
7
5 min
Add 200 g fresh egg noodles; cook 4 min until tender.
Watch out
Pull the fresh noodles at 4 minutes, just tender — they keep swelling in the hot broth and go mushy if left.
8
2 min
Add shredded chicken back; stir in 200 ml borș (or 100 ml lemon juice as substitute) + 1 tbsp chopped lovage + 2 tbsp chopped dill + 1 tbsp chopped parsley.
Watch out
Stir the borș in off a full boil and add the lovage last — boil the sour liquid hard and it turns flat and dull; the lovage should stay bright.
9
1 min
Taste; adjust salt and acid.
10
1 min
Serve hot in deep bowls.