When famed Israeli chef Einat Admony started putting together a menu for her New York restaurant Balaboosta, she knew one thing she wanted on her menu: the Yemenite oxtail soup that her father loved. “Oxtail Yemenite soup is something we grew up on every Friday night, because my dad would not pass the Shabbat without that soup,” she says. The soup’s unique flavor comes from the hawaij, a traditional Yemeni spice mix that includes coriander, cardamom, cumin and turmeric. For her restaurant, however, Adomny wanted a twist.
After her teenage daughter became obsessed with going to Chinatown in search of the best soup dumplings, Admony embarked on a mission to combine that classic Chinese dish with the Yemenite soup. It’s a complex process to make soup dumplings from scratch, and it took her two years to find someone who could do it for her fusion soup. The dumplings use beef instead of oxtail and embrace the flavors of Chinese cuisine by incorporating ginger into the hawaij. “It’s one of my favorite dishes of all time,” she says, celebrating how two separate culinary traditions unite in the soup and adding that, for her, each taste of the Yemenite soup dumplings evokes the feeling of eating Shabbat dinner at her childhood home.
This combination might seem surprising, but as Admony puts it, Jewish food has always been a mix of tradition and adaptation, shaped by the laws of kashrut, Shabbat practices and the ingredients available in the regions where Jewish communities settled. What we might call fusion today—a trend that became popular in the 1980s and combines ingredients, flavors and techniques from different cultures, regions or ethnic groups to create new and innovative dishes—is part of the Jewish experience of repeated exodus, wandering and resettling (although there fusion was more from necessity than creativity).
Soup in particular lends itself to mixing culinary traditions, says the cofounder and CEO of Soupergirl, Sara Polon. “Soup allows you to explore. You can throw in some spices and herbs and keep tinkering, and it becomes a new creation every time you make it.” This freedom to experiment and combine diverse ingredients is one of the reasons fusion soups are so appealing. From adding Moroccan spices to a classic chicken soup to infusing Portuguese white beans with Jewish flavors, the possibilities are endless.
Combining these types of recipes may seem surprising, but they can help track the migration of Jewish diaspora communities. Ilan Stavans, a scholar and coauthor of Sabor Judío: The Jewish Mexican Cookbook, describes how Jewish food in Mexico emerged as a fusion between Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditions when Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Middle East arrived in Mexico in the early 20th century. The new arrivals adapted their recipes to incorporate local ingredients, resulting in a new cuisine that mixed matzah balls with Mexican broths and corn. “Both parts of my identity are not parts anymore. They are a whole,” Stavans says. “I grew up eating this food, and though it seems like fusion to others, for us, it was what we ate.”
Fusion soups can also draw from your surroundings, not just your upbringing. Sonya M. Sanford, a Jewish writer, culinary educator and podcast host, grew up in Seattle, WA, and says she was influenced by the city’s vibrant Vietnamese community. Her matzah ball pho recipe marries the two distinct traditions: Jewish and Vietnamese. Sanford fuses the tastes and textures of Vietnamese noodle soup with Jewish tradition by substituting matzah balls for the noodles. “I think fusion gets a bad rap,” she says, citing complaints of appropriation. “Fusion isn’t just about combining traditional recipes but about understanding the memories and stories tied to them. When chefs tell stories through their dishes that are authentic to their life experience, you can get some amazing dishes.” Sanford stresses that what truly matters in fusion cooking is authenticity and appreciation over appropriation. “What’s important to me,” she says, “is to be authentic in what you’re eating, what you’re cooking and what you’re inspired by.”
Cooking, after all, is more than just about preparing a meal. As Adomy puts it, “Food is a love language.” It’s about expressing love, preserving family traditions and exploring new culinary possibilities. Jewish fusion soups capture just that spirit. Whether it’s the hearty richness of Yemenite soup with dumplings or the aromatic fragrance of matzah ball pho, these dishes bridge time and place, honoring tradition while embracing the endless possibilities of global flavors.
MATZAH BALL PHO
by Sonya M. Sanford
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE BROTH:
2 medium unpeeled yellow onions, halved
1 large piece of ginger, cut in half lengthwise
5 quarts cold water
4-5 lb. chicken, cut into parts
1/2 lb. chicken wings
2 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste
1 tbsp. rock sugar or Turbinado sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1 tsp. whole coriander seeds
2 tbsp. fish sauce or tamari
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
FOR THE MATZAH BALLS:
1 cup matzah meal
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup schmaltz or oil (vegetable or safflower)
1/4 cup minced scallions
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR THE BROTH:
1. Char onions and ginger on a baking sheet under a broiler or over a gas flame on stovetop on each side. Once charred, remove the skin from the onion. Rinse the onion and ginger, and use a small knife to scrape off excess charred bits.
2. Cut your chicken into parts, separating the breasts, legs, wings and backbone.
3. In a small skillet over medium heat, toast the cinnamon, anise and coriander until lightly browned and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the onion, ginger and chicken to a large pot. Fill the pot with 5 quarts of water. Bring the water to a simmer; skim the impurities as they rise to the top.
5. Once cooked through (about 20 minutes), remove the chicken breasts and cool. Add the toasted spices, salt and sugar to the pot. Continue to gently simmer the mixture for 1 hour.
6. Remove the remaining chicken parts and strain the liquid through a fine meshed sieve. Bring the liquid back to a simmer until the liquid has reduced by about a quarter (20-30 minutes).
7. While the broth is simmering, shred the chicken meat and reserve. Once reduced, turn off the heat and add the fish sauce or tamari to the broth.
FOR THE MATZAH BALLS:
1. While the soup is simmering, in a large bowl whisk together the matzah meal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add the beaten egg, schmaltz/oil and scallions. Mix until combined. Do not over mix.
2. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 30 minutes, up to a day.
3. Form the mixture into even-sized balls. They will double when cooked. It makes it easier to form the matzah balls if you rub a little oil on your hands beforehand.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Lower to a simmer and gently drop in the matzah balls. Place the lid on the pot and simmer for 30 minutes.
Assemble the soup by adding the shredded chicken, raw sliced onion and scallions to a bowl. Ladle in the hot broth and add the matzah balls. Serve along with basil, bean sprouts, lime wedges, hoisin and hot sauces.
Opening picture: Photo credit: Sonya M. Sanford
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