Gentse Waterzooi is a traditional Belgian recipe (from the city of Ghent) for a classic stew of chicken cooked cooked with vegetables and potatoes where the stock is finished with cream and egg yolks. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Belgian version of: Gentse Waterzooi.
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Translated from Dutch, ‘waterzooi’ means ‘to simmer in water’... The dish was historically nothing fancier than a simple dish of boiled fish and potatoes, making use of readily available fish like cod, carp and perch. As rivers and ponds became more polluted and fish populations diminished, chicken made its debut in this classic charmer.
Today, the city of Ghent reigns unchallenged in waterzooi-land. Located in the Northwest corner of Belgium and only a short drive away from the North Sea, Ghent has placed waterzooi on the culinary map. Hundreds of restaurants each boast their own variation of the dish, all vying for the attention of the oodles of tourists that roam this picturesque city in search of waterzooi.
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, quartered
3 celery sticks
1 leek
3 carrots
6 firm, waxy, potatoes
1 bunch of parsley
2-3 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
2 egg yolks
250ml of whipping cream
1.5–2l of chicken stock
2 tbsp of butter
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Method:
Using a pan that's large enough to hold the chicken comfortably, place over medium heat. Add in 1.5l of the stock, followed by the chicken pieces. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20-30 minutes over low-medium heat until the chicken is done. Take off the heat and set aside.
Cut celery, carrot and leek into very fine julienne strips. Cut the potatoes into rough chunks.
Take a large enough pan so all the stock and chicken will eventually fit, and fry the vegetables and the potatoes in 1-2 tbsp of butter over medium heat.
In the meantime, take chicken out of the stock and peel off the skin (discard the skin).
Add the chicken to the vegetables and potatoes. Sift the stock to eliminate any impurities the chicken left behind, and add to the pan with the chicken, vegetables and potatoes.
Add 2/3 of the cream into the pan, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper, to your liking.
In a separate bowl, combine the remaining cream and 2 egg yolks. Whisk together and gently add a little of the hot stock one spoon at a time. This is called ‘tempering’. Keep whisking as you introduce the stock, to make sure your egg mixture won’t scramble. Keep adding stock until you reach a warm temperature. When the egg mixture is warm, take the pan off the heat and gently drizzle and stir the egg mixture into it.
Ladle the waterzooi into shallow soup bowls, them sprinkle chopped parsley and thyme leaves over the top.
Make sure to serve some French bread on the side to help mop up the liquid.
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