Light Kig ha Farz

📝 Ingredients

• 400 g lean braising beef (shin or blade)
• 2 chicken legs (about 250 g each), skin removed
• ½ green cabbage (about 600 g)
• 4 carrots (about 120 g each)
• 2 turnips (about 150 g each)
• 2 leeks (about 150 g each once trimmed)
• 1 brown onion + 2 cloves + 2 bay leaves
• 2 beef stock cubes + 2500 ml cold water
• 200 g buckwheat flour
• 1 egg
• 200 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 20 g salted butter (10 for the farz, 10 for the pan)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large stockpot (8 litres)
• Farz bag or clean cotton tea towel
• Kitchen string
• Mixing bowl and whisk
• Slotted spoon
• Frying pan

📖 Steps

1. Put the beef in the stockpot with the peeled onion studded with the cloves, the bay leaves, the stock cubes and the 2.5 litres of cold water. Bring to the boil over a high heat, then spend 5 minutes skimming off the grey foam that rises to the surface.
2. Reduce to a low heat, cover three-quarters of the way and simmer for 1 hour: small bubbles should barely disturb the surface. A rolling boil would make the beef dry and stringy.
3. Meanwhile, make the farz: in the mixing bowl, combine the buckwheat flour and 1 pinch of salt. Add the beaten egg, milk, 10 g melted butter and 100 ml stock taken from the stockpot and cooled until lukewarm, whisking until you have a thick, smooth batter.
4. Pour the batter into the farz bag (or the tea towel set in a bowl) and tie with the string, leaving plenty of empty space above the batter: the farz swells as it cooks. When the beef has cooked for 1 hour, lower the bag into the stockpot and leave to simmer.
5. Peel the carrots and turnips, then halve them. Split the leeks lengthways, wash them carefully between the leaves and tie them in a bundle. Cut the cabbage into 2 wedges, keeping the core so they hold together during cooking.
6. After the farz has cooked for 1 hour, add the chicken legs, carrots, turnips and leeks, with a little hot water if needed to cover them. Simmer for 30 minutes, then add the cabbage wedges and cook for another 30 minutes.
7. Check that everything is cooked: the beef should be tender when pierced with the tip of a knife and the chicken should come away from the bone. Lift out the farz bag with a slotted spoon, leave to cool slightly for 5 minutes, then roll it firmly on the work surface to crumble the farz inside.
8. Open the bag and brown the farz crumbs in the frying pan with the remaining 10 g butter for 5 minutes over a medium heat, stirring, until lightly crisp. Add only a little salt, as the stock is already salty, and season with pepper.
9. Slice the beef, take the chicken off the bone and divide the meat, vegetables and farz between warm shallow bowls. Pour over a ladle of piping-hot stock. Keep the rest of the stock in the fridge for up to 3 days to make soup.