The hard and soft matzah ball debate is unnecessary; it just depends on how much water you put in before cooking. Matzah balls are pretty much matzah flour, beaten egg, and water. The water and egg will mix before cooking, and after cooking the water will be trapped by denatured egg proteins. You want soft matzah balls? Trap a lot of water in there. You want hard matzah balls, not so much.
I like them soft, and had to quadruple the amount of water suggested by the nice people at manichewitz. Batter in the sink, testing for size at 1 tablespoon and a quarter cup, scooping and dropping from a quarter cup measure lined with plastic, and the matzah balls increasing in size so dramatically th I was sure they were going to start plopping onto the deck of the stove, potentially injuring passerby (good thing they were soft...)
Extensive cooking and travel in Europe, the Mid East, and the Far East changed my palate and concepts of pairings and presentation. Good cooking friends and a background in Biology and Chemistry give me a pretty good idea of how to hit a target preparation. I love cooking on the fly, whether to make a complex set piece or a minor culinary miracle out of what's on hand.
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