Chicken Waterzooi
This chicken waterzooi recipe is a silky Belgian classic bringing together chicken, sweet veg, and a creamy broth.
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Ingredients
Method
2) Add parsley, thyme and a bay leaf and poach until chicken is cooked. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
3) Cut the remaining carrots, celery, onions into 2.5cm sticks and place them in a saucepan with water to cover. Cut the leeks into 2.5cm sticks, slice the mushrooms and add to saucepan.
4) Parboil vegetables in salted water. Take out the chicken when poached (no red color must be seen under the skin) and discard vegetables from stock.
5) Strain the chicken stock through a fine sieve. Take the skin off of the chicken and cut chicken into 8 pieces.
6) Put the chicken and the parboiled vegetables into the stock. Mix the egg yolks with the cream and add to the stock. Add the lemon juice and butter. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
7) Serve in soup plates with boiled potatoes or white steamed rice.
This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The FN chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.
This chicken waterzooi recipe is Belgium's bowl of cosy comfort!
You may not be familiar with chicken waterzooi, but one mouthful and you'll be hooked! This iconic Belgian dish comes from Ghent, where it began as a humble fish stew before this chicken waterzooi recipe took centre stage and won over the nation. Today it’s considered something of a national treasure - a dish that feels both rustic and luxurious.
The word waterzooi roughly means “to simmer in water,” and that gentle poaching is part of what makes the dish so special. The list of chicken waterzooi ingredients varies from home to home, but ours starts with a whole chicken cooked with carrots, celery, shallots, leeks, mushrooms, herbs, and bay leaf, to create a wonderfully fragrant stock. Then egg yolks and double cream are whisked in with a squeeze of lemon juice, butter, and a bit of grated nutmeg, giving the sauce a velvety finish.
Our chicken recipe for waterzooi is one of those winter-warming dishes that’s perfect for a cosy family supper or a dinner with friends. Serve with crusty sourdough, buttery boiled potatoes, or creamy mash, or even a simple green salad to keep it light and fresh.
This chicken waterzooi recipe is Belgian comfort food at its best, although we suspect Belgian beef stew and Belgian waffle layer cake might also have something to say about that!
