Yayla çorbası
The whole difficulty of this soup fits in one sentence: yogurt heated too fast will split. The solution has two parts — an egg yolk and flour beaten into the yogurt to stabilise the protein, then tempering with hot broth, one ladle at a time. Done properly the soup is as smooth as cream. Done in a hurry it looks like curdled milk with rice in it.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Cooking the rice 20 min
- Yogurt base 8 min
- Tempering 12 min
- Mint butter 5 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneCook the rice in the stock
Add the rice to the stock and simmer for 20 minutes, until thoroughly soft, even a little overcooked. This is not risotto — the grains should break down and release starch, which helps bind the soup alongside the flour.
Ingredients: 80 g rice · 1000 ml vegetable stock · 150 g chickpeas · 1 tsp salt
Whisk the yogurt with yolk and flour
Whisk the yogurt, yolk, flour and cold water into a completely smooth liquid. The yolk and flour thicken a little, but above all they stabilise — the starch in the flour protects the yogurt proteins from seizing in the heat.
Ingredients: 500 g natural yogurt · 1 pcs egg yolk · 2 tbsp plain flour · 100 ml water
A smooth slurry — not a single lump.Temper the yogurt a ladle at a time
Pour the hot stock into the yogurt one ladle at a time, whisking, until about half has gone in. The temperature must climb slowly. The reverse — yogurt tipped into a hot pan — almost always ends in a split soup.
Ingredients: 500 g natural yogurt · 1 pcs egg yolk · 2 tbsp plain flour · 100 ml water
One ladle at a time, never the other way round.Return to the pan and cook, stirring
Pour the tempered yogurt back into the pan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the soup thickens and barely bubbles. Cook 8 minutes more over low heat so the flour loses its raw taste — about 10 minutes in all. Add the chickpeas, if using, and season with salt.
Ingredients: 80 g rice · 1000 ml vegetable stock · 150 g chickpeas · 1 tsp salt
Make the mint butter
Melt the butter, add the dried mint and pepper flakes and heat for 30–40 seconds, until the butter turns red and smells intense. No longer — mint burns instantly and turns bitter.
Ingredients: 50 g butter · 1 tbsp dried mint · 1 tsp chilli flakes
Butter red from the pepper, mint still green.Pour the butter over at the table
Ladle the soup into bowls and pour the butter over the surface at the table, without stirring. The pattern of red fat on white soup is not only for looks — the butter stays on the surface, so the mint and pepper come through from the very first spoonful.
Ingredients: 50 g butter · 1 tbsp dried mint · 1 tsp chilli flakes
Before you start
Yogurt at room temperature
Fridge-cold yogurt splits more easily, even with careful tempering. Take it out half an hour ahead — it is the simplest way to cut the risk.
If it splits anyway
Take it off the heat and blitz the soup with a stick blender. You will not recover perfect smoothness, but the dish is perfectly edible and nobody but you will notice.
With or without chickpeas
Chickpeas turn this into a full meal. Without them it is a light soup to open a meal — in Turkey it is also a favourite when someone has a cold.
