Clear soup (marak tzach)

Clear soup, marak tzach in Hebrew, is chicken and vegetable broth cooked slowly, strained until it is completely transparent and served without the vegetables or meat: just the golden liquid with fine noodles or soup almonds. In many Israeli homes it is the Friday night soup, and its secret is not what goes into the pot but what comes out of it.

Pot calculatorOrder Clear soup (marak tzach)

Dairy freeMeatAllergens:GlutenEggsCelery

Updated

Clear soup (marak tzach)Illustration
Time4 hCook 3 h 20 min
Pot8 bowls2.4 litres
Per bowl222 kcal14 g protein · a 300 ml bowl
Cost of the pot₪37for the pot, about ₪4.6 a bowl

The story of Clear soup (marak tzach)

Tzach means clean and pure in Hebrew, and that is exactly the soup: a liquid you can see the bottom of the bowl through. In the Ashkenazi kitchen it was the broth left over from cooking the Shabbat chicken. The chicken was served as the main course, the carrots were sliced into coins, and the strained liquid opened the meal with lokshen, fine egg noodles, or with matzo balls.

In Israel clear soup has two lives. At home it stayed the Friday night broth, and beside it grew a quick version of soup powder and boiling water, served with soup almonds, the factory version of mandlen, the tiny dough cubes Ashkenazi grandmothers baked or fried at home. In French cooking a broth clarified to full transparency is called consommé, and that is where clarifying with egg white reached its peak.

What makes Clear soup (marak tzach) itself

Clear soup is judged by its clarity. It is not thick, it has no potatoes, zucchini or rice to release starch and cloud it, and it never boils hard. The deep flavour comes from a high ratio of bones and wings to water, three hours at a barely moving simmer, and patient straining. The difference from ordinary chicken soup is in the bowl: in chicken soup the vegetables and chicken are served, in clear soup only the liquid, and the noodles or soup almonds are cooked or added separately.

Clear soup (marak tzach) for any number of people

Change the number of people and the bowl size, and every ingredient updates in grams, with the cost, calories and protein per bowl.

Bowl size
Units
2.4litres in the pot
3Pot to use, litres
₪37Cost of the pot
₪4.6per bowl
222kcal per bowl
14.0g protein per bowl
IngredientAmountCost
The bones and water
Chicken backs and carcasses, excess skin removed900 g₪8.9
Chicken wings500 g · 7 pcs₪7.5
Cold water3.5 l
The vegetables
Large onion, halved, clean outer skin left on200 g · 1 pcs₪1.2
Carrots, halved lengthwise250 g · 3 pcs₪1.2
Celery root, quartered200 g · 1 pcs₪3.0
Parsley roots100 g · 2 pcs₪4.0
Celery stalks with leaves100 g · 2 pcs₪2.0
Parsley, tied in a bunch20 g₪1.0
Dill, tied in a bunch15 g₪0.9
The seasoning
Black peppercorns2 g₪0.3
Bay leaves1 g · 2 pcs₪0.4
Salt, at the end16 g₪0.0
To clarify (optional)
Egg whites100 g · 3 pcs₪3.9
Carrot, finely grated40 g₪0.2
To serve
Fine soup noodles160 g₪2.4
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Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026. Nutrition from the ingredients in grams, before cooking.

How many calories in Clear soup (marak tzach)? Nutrition facts and calorie calculator

Change the amount of any ingredient, drop one, or pick a lighter version, and the numbers per serving update at once: calories, fat, carbs, protein, sodium and fibre.

Clear soup (marak tzach) has 74 calories per 100 ml. A 300 ml bowl made with our recipe has 222 calories: 14 g protein, 7 g fat and 22.2 g carbohydrates. A 250 ml cup has 185 calories.

Ingredients, for the whole recipe

  • 900 g29 kcal per serving
  • 7 pcs64 kcal per serving
  • 1 pcs10 kcal per serving
  • 3 pcs13 kcal per serving
  • 1 pcs11 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs7 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs2 kcal per serving
  • 20 g1 kcal per serving
  • 15 g1 kcal per serving
  • 2 g1 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs0 kcal per serving
  • 16 g0 kcal per serving
  • 3 pcs7 kcal per serving
  • 40 g2 kcal per serving
  • 160 g74 kcal per serving

What each add-on adds to Clear soup (marak tzach)

Values for the amount in the row, from the national food database.

Add-onCaloriesProtein, gFat, g
One large egg837.35.5
A tablespoon of oil122013.8
A slice of white bread792.50.5
A slice of challah12641.1
A side cup of cooked rice, about1823.50.3

How to make Clear soup (marak tzach)

In cook mode the screen stays on, tap a step when it is done, and the timers run next to each step.
  1. Rinse the bones and wings in cold water, put them in an 8 litre pot and cover with 3.5 litres of cold water. Heat over medium heat, uncovered and without stirring, for about 25 minutes, until the water is almost boiling.
  2. As the grey foam rises, skim it with a slotted spoon for about 10 minutes, until almost no more appears. Turn the heat to the lowest setting: the soup should send up a bubble here and there, not boil.
  3. Add the onion, carrots, celery root, parsley roots, celery stalks, peppercorns and bay leaves. Cook for 2.5 hours with the lid half open, without stirring.
  4. Add the bunches of parsley and dill for the last 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pot stand for 20 minutes so the fat rises and the sediment settles.
  5. Gently lift out the chicken and vegetables with a slotted spoon. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve lined with a clean muslin cloth or kitchen paper, ladle by ladle, without pressing and without pouring in the sediment at the bottom.
  6. Skim the fat off the surface with a spoon, or chill overnight and lift off the hardened layer. Salt gradually, up to 16 g for the whole pot, tasting as you go.
  7. To clarify, if you want full transparency: lightly whisk the egg whites with the grated carrot and a cup of cold broth. Pour into the cold broth in a clean pot and heat slowly over medium low heat, stirring gently, for about 10 minutes, until the egg white starts to set. Stop stirring.
  8. The egg white forms a grey floating layer, the raft. Make a small hole in it with a spoon and simmer very gently for 20 minutes. Strain again through cloth, through the hole, without breaking the raft.
  9. Cook the noodles separately in boiling salted water for 3 to 4 minutes and drain. Put a spoonful of noodles in each bowl and pour very hot soup over them.

The science of Clear soup (marak tzach)

Kitchen science

Why clear soup starts in cold water

Soluble proteins from the meat and bones, mainly albumins, seep into the water as it warms slowly. Around 60 to 80 °C they set, cling together into large clumps and rise as foam you can skim. Chicken dropped into boiling water sets those proteins too fast into tiny particles, which stay dispersed in the liquid as cloudiness.

Kitchen science

Why a hard boil makes it cloudy

In a hard boil the bubbles smash the fat into tiny droplets and mix them with gelatin and proteins that coat them, forming an emulsion just like milk. That emulsion does not separate later, which is why a soup that boiled for two hours turns milky. At a gentle simmer the fat stays as a layer on top and can be removed.

Kitchen science

How egg white clarifies clear soup

Egg white is mostly water and proteins, led by ovalbumin. Heated in cold broth, the proteins unfold, bond to each other and set into a spongy net that traps tiny particles and fat droplets, then floats up as a raft. The heating must be gradual: heated fast, the egg white sets before it has gathered the cloudiness.

Kitchen science

Why the broth turns to jelly in the fridge

Chicken bones, skin and joints contain collagen. Long cooking breaks it into gelatin, which dissolves in the hot broth. As it cools, the gelatin chains reorganise into a net that traps the water, and the soup sets. That is also what gives a good clear soup its full feel in the mouth even though it is transparent.

Clear soup (marak tzach) in every kitchen

With noodles

The best known version: a spoonful of fine noodles cooked separately at the bottom of the bowl, with very hot soup poured over. Ashkenazi homes use thin egg noodles, lokshen.

Vegetarian

No chicken at all: double the carrot, onion and celery root, add leek and a few dried mushrooms for depth. Cook for one hour only, because overcooked vegetables lose their freshness. The whole pot is parve.

Beef consommé

A broth of beef bones and shank, clarified with a raft of lean ground beef, egg white and chopped vegetables. The ground beef adds flavour while it clarifies, and this is the classic French consommé.

With soup almonds

The children's favourite: hot clear soup with soup almonds added to the bowl just before eating, so they stay crisp and do not soak up all the liquid.

With matzo balls

At Passover and on winter Fridays the clear soup is served with matzo balls. Cook them in water separately, because they shed crumbs that cloud the soup.

Common Clear soup (marak tzach) problems and how to fix them

My clear soup came out cloudy

It boiled too hard, was stirred, or the vegetables were pressed while straining. It can be saved: chill it, clarify with egg white and strain through cloth. Next time, a gentle simmer only.

The soup is weak and bland

Too much water for the chicken, or too short a cook. Reduce the strained soup in an open pot for 20 to 30 minutes, then salt it. Next time add another half kilo of wings.

The noodles soaked up all the soup

Noodles left in the soup keep absorbing liquid and swelling, and their starch clouds it. Keep them separate with a drop of oil and add them to each bowl just before serving.

The soup is too salty

It was salted at the start and then the liquid reduced. Add boiling water or unsalted broth. Next time salt only after straining.

There is a layer of fat on top

Chill until the fat hardens and lift it off with a spoon. If there is no time, drag a sheet of kitchen paper across the surface of the hot soup and the fat soaks into it.

Storing, freezing and reheating

3 days

In the fridge

3 months

In the freezer

2+4

To cool

Bring it from 60 to 21 °C within two hours and down to 5 °C within four more. Split a big pot into shallow boxes.

75 °C

Reheating

Heat over medium heat to a gentle simmer without stirring hard. Keep noodles or soup almonds separate and add them to the bowl only when serving.

Nutrition of Clear soup (marak tzach)

From our recipe, per bowl and per 100 g, next to the national food database.

ServingkcalProtein, gFat, gCarbs, gFibre, g
Our recipe, a 300 ml bowl22214.07.022.23.5
Our recipe, 100 ml744.72.37.41.2
Typical Clear soup (marak tzach), 100 g60.60.20.40.0
Typical Clear soup (marak tzach), 100 g (2)70.90.10.80.0

What the ingredients of Clear soup (marak tzach) cost

What each ingredient costs in one pot, and where to buy it.

IngredientPriceIn this potWhere to buy
Chicken backs and carcasses, excess skin removed₪9.9 per kg₪8.9Butcher
Chicken wings₪15 per kg₪7.5Supermarket
Parsley roots₪7.9 each₪4Greengrocer
Egg whites₪1.3 each₪3.9Supermarket
Celery root, quartered₪15 per kg₪3Greengrocer
Fine soup noodles₪15 per kg₪2.4Supermarket
Celery stalks with leaves₪6.9 each₪2Greengrocer
Carrots, halved lengthwise₪4.9 per kg₪1.4Greengrocer
Large onion, halved, clean outer skin left on₪5.9 per kg₪1.2Greengrocer
Parsley, tied in a bunch₪4.9 each₪1Greengrocer
Dill, tied in a bunch₪4.9 each₪0.9Greengrocer
Bay leaves₪360 per kg₪0.4Supermarket
Black peppercorns₪139 per kg₪0.3Supermarket
Salt, at the end₪2.1 per kg₪0Supermarket

Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026, VAT included. Vegetable prices change with the season.

Make Clear soup (marak tzach) a meal

Shabbat

Ready Shabbat food

Soup, hamin, mains and sides, with a quantity calculator and prices.

Plan Shabbat
Hosting

Hosting trays

9 trays to go with the soup, with a planner by number of guests.

Tray planner
Events

Catering

A whole menu in grams per guest, with a reheating table.

Menus

What to serve with Clear soup (marak tzach)

Serve very hot in wide bowls, with a spoonful of fine noodles or a handful of soup almonds and a small sprig of dill. The chicken and carrots from the pot can be served afterwards as a dish of their own.

Clear soup (marak tzach) in large quantities: events, offices and communities

How much of everything by number of guests, at a 300 ml bowl. For institutional pots, catering and community kitchens.

GuestsLitres30 l potsCost of ingredients
257.51₪115
50151₪230
100302₪459
200603₪918
5001506₪2,295

Every ingredient for any number of guests is in the calculator above: type the number of people.

Order Clear soup (marak tzach)

A ready pot for Shabbat, an event or the office, ordered ahead.

  • Cooked to order, for Shabbat, an event or the office.
  • Tell us how many people and when, and we send a quote.
  • Delivery in Tel Aviv from ₪35, free over ₪750.
Ask for a quote for Clear soup (marak tzach)

Order Clear soup (marak tzach) for a large event

Large orders in Israel and abroad: events, offices, synagogues, communities and institutions.

  • In Israel: cooked in Tel Aviv and delivered to events in the area, and to large events anywhere in the country on a quote.
  • Abroad: for communities, events and restaurants. Tell us where, how many and when, and we come back with a quote and options.
  • Institutional quantities and a shopping list for any number of guests, in the calculator above.
Ask for a large-order quote

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between clear soup and chicken soup?

Clear soup is the liquid alone, strained and transparent, served with noodles or soup almonds. In chicken soup the chicken and vegetables go into the bowl. One pot can give you both.

How do you make a really clear soup?

Start in cold water, skim the foam, simmer gently without stirring and strain through cloth without pressing. For full transparency, clarify with egg white.

What noodles go into clear soup?

Fine soup noodles, cooked separately for 3 to 4 minutes and drained. About 160 g is enough for a pot of 8 bowls.

What are soup almonds?

Small crisp yellow dough pellets, an Israeli shelf staple, descended from Ashkenazi mandlen. Add them to the bowl at the last moment so they stay crunchy.

Can I make a vegetarian clear soup?

Yes. Double the carrot, onion and celery root, add leek and 10 g of dried mushrooms, and cook for one hour only. The soup comes out clear and parve.

Can I make clear soup from soup powder?

Yes, that is the quick version: powder and boiling water, with carrot and celery simmered for 20 minutes. It is clear, but lacks the body and gelatin of a bone broth.

How long do you cook clear soup?

Three hours at a gentle simmer from the moment the foam is skimmed. With less than two hours the flavour and body are weak.

How many calories are in Clear soup (marak tzach)?

A 300 ml bowl of Clear soup (marak tzach) made with our recipe has about 222 calories and 14 g of protein. Per 100 ml: 74 calories.

How much does it cost to make Clear soup (marak tzach) at home?

A pot of 8 bowls costs about ₪37 at Israeli shelf prices in October 2026, about ₪4.6 a bowl. The calculator above works it out for any number of people.

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