RecipesApicius

Chicken rissoles

Apicius 2.2.9 · 4th century AD

Latin

amulatum aliter: ossucula de pullis exbromas, deinde mittis in caccabum porros anetum salem. cum cocta fuerit, addes piper, apii semen; deinde oridiam infusam teres, addes liquamen et passum uel defritum, omnia misces et cum esiciis inferes.

English

Another dish with starch sauce: strip the little bones from chickens, then put into a pot leeks, dill, and salt. When it is cooked, add pepper and celery seed; then make a paste of boiled rice, add fish sauce and passum or defrutum, mix everything together, and serve with forcemeat balls.

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken thighs, with bone and skin
  • 1 leek, cleaned of dirt
  • 1 tsp dried dill
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 50 g rice
  • 2 Tb + 1 tsp fish sauce
  • ½ tsp ground pepper
  • Pinch of celery seeds, ground
  • 90 ml passum

Method

  1. Separate the chicken meat from the skin and bones. Mince the chicken meat and place in the fridge.
  2. Place the skin and bones in a saucepan along with the leek, dill, and 1 L of water. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and cook gently for 2 hrs.
  3. When the stock is almost finished, place the rice in another small saucepan along with 300 ml of water. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered until the rice is very mushy.
  4. Once the stock is cooked, pass through a strainer to remove the bones and leek. There should be about 600 ml; add more water, or reduce down, if needed.
  5. Pour the stock back into a saucepan. Add 2 Tb of fish sauce to the stock, along with the passum, pepper, and celery seeds. Bring to a gentle simmer, tasting and adjusting as needed.
  6. Get out the chicken meat and add the remaining teaspoon of fish sauce. Form into small balls and drop into the stock mixture. Gently poach the meatballs until cooked through.
  7. In a large mortar and pestle, mash the rice into a paste. Add the rice paste to the stock, and cook for a few minutes to thicken. Remove from the heat and serve the chicken meatballs in the stock.