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Moldovan Zama — Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Discover the unforgettable taste of home! Zama is a wonderful soup that every Moldovan cook knows how to make. For a Moldovan, the aroma of fresh zama is the very smell of home — of family, calm, and contentment. It isn't just an everyday dish, either: at the end of any loud, happy party or holiday feast, the hosts are sure to send you off with "Come back tomorrow for zama!" Of course, every cook makes it her own way, but the idea stays the same. Here's how we make zama in my family.

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Moldovan zama soup with chicken and vegetables
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Composition / ingredients

Servings:
Translation table of volumetric measures
Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe
By weight of the composition:
Proteins 36 % 12 g
Fats 30 % 10 g
Carbohydrates 33 % 11 g
185 kcal
GI: 18 / 0 / 82
  • Zama is always built on chicken broth, and the bird should be a good free-range chicken — golden and fragrant. Pour enough water into the pot from the start so you won't have to top it up while the chicken simmers. Lower the chicken into boiling water and cook it gently over low heat, skimming off the foam now and then. Add parsley root and leek to the broth (Moldovans call the leek "praj"). While the chicken cooks, make the homemade noodles — zama won't stand for store-bought pasta; fresh egg noodles are the only way. For a five-quart pot, make the noodles from two eggs: crack the eggs, salt them well, and work in "as much flour as it takes." The dough should be very stiff. Roll it out into a thin sheet, let it air-dry, then slice it into fine noodles. After about two hours, once the meat is starting to fall off the bone, add the vegetables to the broth: carrot, onion, and red bell pepper, ideally all cut into thin matchsticks. Never, ever add potatoes — zama can't abide the taste of potato! Stir the homemade noodles into the broth with the vegetables. About five minutes before it's done, season the zama with its signature sour note — sour bread kvass, which Moldovans call "borș." Use as much as suits your taste, but zama should be pleasantly tart; if you'd rather, you can use lemon juice instead of kvass. As soon as it comes back to a boil, pull it off the heat. Salt to taste, of course, and stir fragrant fresh herbs into the finished soup: parsley, dill, and leuștean (lovage). Cover the pot and let it rest about ten minutes. Ladle the aromatic zama into bowls and enjoy!

Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish

  • Category I chicken - 238  kcal/100g
  • Chicken of the II category - 159  kcal/100g
  • Chicken, flesh without skin - 241  kcal/100g
  • Chickens - 140  kcal/100g
  • Chicken egg - 157  kcal/100g
  • Egg white - 45  kcal/100g
  • Egg powder - 542  kcal/100g
  • Egg yolk - 352  kcal/100g
  • Ostrich egg - 118  kcal/100g
  • Sweet pepper - 27  kcal/100g
  • Carrots - 33  kcal/100g
  • Dried carrots - 275  kcal/100g
  • Boiled carrots - 25  kcal/100g
  • Whole durum wheat flour fortified - 333  kcal/100g
  • Whole durum wheat flour universal - 364  kcal/100g
  • Flour krupchatka - 348  kcal/100g
  • Flour - 325  kcal/100g
  • Leek - 33  kcal/100g
  • Salt - 0  kcal/100g
  • Onion - 41  kcal/100g
  • Fresh frozen soup greens in a package - 41  kcal/100g
  • Greenery - 41  kcal/100g
  • Parsley root - 49  kcal/100g
  • Kvass - 25  kcal/100g

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