Hamburger Aalsuppe (Hamburg eel soup)

Name: Hamburger Aalsuppe (Hamburg eel soup)
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 190 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 piece ham bone (approx. 500 g, smoked); 2 l water; 1 bunch soup vegetables; 2 piece bay leaves; 6 piece peppercorns; 150 g mixed dried fruit (pears, apples, plums); 2 piece carrots; 100 g celeriac; 1 piece leek; 150 g peas (frozen); 150 g cauliflower florets; 500 g eel (oven-ready, in 4 cm pieces); 2 tbsp white wine vinegar for the eel; 500 ml water for the eel; 3 tbsp white wine vinegar; 2 tbsp sugar; salt to taste; pepper to taste; 1 bunch mixed herbs (parsley, dill, chervil, tarragon); 30 g butter or margarine; 100 ml water for the flour dumplings; 60 g plain flour; 1 piece egg (medium); 1 pinch salt for the flour dumplings

A German classic from Hamburg: Aalsuppe is a sweet-and-sour soup with dried fruit, vegetables, fresh herbs and small flour dumplings. By tradition the eel only went into the pot later, as the name originally stood for a soup made of all that the kitchen had to hand. In the robust ham stock, sweetness, acidity and tender eel meet, with parsley, dill, chervil and tarragon lending their scent.

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Cook time

190 min

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Servings

🧂

Ingredients

View Original ↗

Nutrition

per serving

520 kcal

Calories

22 g

Protein

29 g

Fat

36 g

Carbs

Ingredients

For 6 servings

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Instructions

1
Put the ham bone on with the water and bring it to the boil. Add the cleaned, roughly chopped soup vegetables, the bay leaves and the peppercorns and let everything simmer gently over low heat, skimming off the foam as you go.
2
Pour the stock through a sieve into a second pan. Pick the meat off the bone, cut it small and set it aside, and throw away the boiled-out soup vegetables.
3
Rinse the dried fruit in cold water and let it soften in the stock over low heat.
4
Cut the carrots and celeriac into cubes and the leek into rings. Add the vegetables to the soup along with the peas and the cauliflower florets and cook until just tender.
5
Put the pieces of eel into a small pan, barely cover them with the water for the eel and the white wine vinegar for the eel and let them poach at the merest simmer over low heat until the flesh is white and opaque and comes away from the bone in flakes.
6
For the flour dumplings, bring the butter or margarine to the boil with the water for the flour dumplings. Stir in the plain flour all at once and keep stirring until the dough comes away from the base of the pan as a ball. Let it cool a little, then work in the egg and the salt for the flour dumplings.
7
Using two teaspoons, shape small dumplings, drop them into the gently simmering soup and let them poach until done.
8
Add the ham meat and the drained pieces of eel to the soup. Season robustly sweet-and-sour with the white wine vinegar, the sugar, salt and pepper.
9
Chop the herbs finely and stir them into the soup only just before serving so that their aroma stays fresh.