A bowl of white yogurt-and-rice yayla soup with mint

Intermédiaire

Yayla Çorbası (Yogurt & Rice Soup with Mint)

Name: Yayla Çorbası (Yogurt & Rice Soup with Mint)
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 80 g Short-grain rice; 1 L Water; 500 g Plain yogurt (full-fat); 1 Egg yolk; 1 tbsp (15 ml) Cornflour (cornstarch); 1 tsp (5 ml) Salt; 30 g Butter; 1 tbsp (15 ml) Dried mint; 0.5 tsp (2.5 ml) Turkish red pepper flakes (optional)

A silky, tangy soup of yogurt tempered smooth with rice and egg yolk, finished with a pour of mint butter — the gentle highland soup whose name means meadow.

Source

Recette de Turkish home kitchens · 🏺 Traditionnel · Household and neighbourhood cooking carried across Türkiye — no single author owns these dishes

Turkish · traditional dish — An ownerless traditional dish, so no individual cook is credited. The cited article documents yayla çorbası as a Turkish soup of yogurt, rice and mint, tempered with egg to keep the yogurt smooth. Quantities and step wording here are this book's own.

Background on Wikipedia ↗

Watch it being made · 3 videos

Gokces kitchen Hungry Man Kitchen Nefis Yemek Tarifleri | Bugün Ne Pişirsem?

⏱ 45 min🍽 4 portions🔥 190 kcal🇹🇷 Turquie

VégétarienSans glutenSans fruits à coqueHalal

Étapes

Rinse the rice, put it in a pot with the water and a little salt, and simmer 15–20 minutes until very soft.
In a bowl, whisk the yogurt, egg yolk and cornflour together until completely smooth.
Whisk a ladleful of the hot rice water into the yogurt mix to warm it gently.
Add a second and third ladleful the same way, whisking each in — this tempering stops the yogurt curdling.
💡 Warming the yogurt slowly before it meets full heat is the whole trick to a smooth yogurt soup.
Pour the warmed yogurt mixture back into the pot of rice, whisking constantly.
Set over low-medium heat and bring to a bare simmer, stirring the whole time in one direction — never let it boil hard.
Cook gently 8–10 minutes, stirring, until the soup thickens to a silky, pourable cream.
Season with the salt and taste.
In a small pan, melt the butter, stir in the dried mint and pepper flakes, and heat a few seconds until fragrant and the butter turns red — watch it, mint burns fast.
Ladle the soup into bowls and swirl the mint butter over the top.
Serve hot, on its own or beside rice and grilled meat.

💡 Astuces

Keep stirring and never let it boil hard — gentle, constant heat is what keeps the soup smooth.
A handful of cooked chickpeas dropped in is a common and hearty addition.