This Turkish soup is so rich & full of flavour, it'll blow your mind - Arabaşı çorbası from Central Anatolia

Arabaşı soup is a specialty of the Central Anatolia region of Türkiye, particularly known in the Yozgat and Cappadocia areas. While it’s usually seen as a winter soup (as you’ve mentioned in my dms before) and since the weather is starting to get colder, it's the perfect time to make this!

The soup itself was a 10 out of 10. I loved the spicy & rich flavour and chicken always hitsssss in soups. I’m not sure how I feel about the dough 😂 It honestly reminded me of the paste you prep when making kimchi & then when it turned firm, I thought it tasted kinda similar to teokkbokki (korean rice cakes). So if you’re familiar with those, you’ll like this too. Also, I was following a video to cut the dough into a cool shape and I somehow still failed 😂😭

Ingredients

For the dough

✿ 60 grams of flour

✿ 200 ml water (cold, when mixing it the first time)

✿ 300 ml boiling water (when adding it on the stove & stirring)

✿ pinch of salt

✿ If you want a bigger batch, just multiply the numbers. I’d say my little portion was for 2 people.

For the soup

✿ 1 tbsp butter

✿ olive oil (+-1-2 tbsp)

✿ 1 large tbsp of tomato paste

✿ 1/2 tbsp of red pepper paste

✿ 1- 3 tsp of chilli flakes (more if u want it real spicy)

✿ 1 1/2 tsp salt

✿ 1 tsp black pepper

✿ shredded chicken

✿ 1,5 - 2 L water (depends on how thick you want it to be)

Instructions

Step 1: Make arabasi dough

1. In a pot, mix flour and water until smooth and lump-free

2. Sieve the mixture into a pan and place it on the stove

3. Slowly add hot water while stirring continuously

4. Cook until it thickens and turns into a paste

5. Transfer the paste to a bowl and let it cool completely. It should set and become firm, almost like jelly

6. Cut the set dough into cubes. (Traditionally, they make a nice design, but mine didn’t turn out lmao it's so ugly, but it’s okay!)

Step 2: Make the Soup

1. In a pan, melt butter and olive oil, then add flour and mix well

2. Add tomato paste and red pepper paste, cooking until fragrant

3. Stir in chili flakes, salt, and black pepper

4. Add water, stirring until everything is fully dissolved. Optionally, add stock powder and more hot water if needed

5. Finally, add shredded chicken and stir to combine

Serve the soup hot with the Arabaşı dough cubes. The dough itself is very neutral in flavor, but the soup is rich and spicy!