Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Zeamă
A tangy chicken noodle soup soured with fermented bran brine and fragrant with lovage, Moldova's restorative bowl.
Moldovan · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 45 min
~539 cal · 51g protein · 53g carbs · 12g fat · 6g fiber · 7g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Zeamă is Moldova's everyday chicken soup, a light, tangy broth that is both everyday sustenance and a famed hangover cure. It sits at the heart of Moldovan home cooking, made whenever comfort is needed.
Its defining character comes from two things: homemade noodles dropped into the pot, and the sourness of borș, a wheat-bran brine (quite different from beet borscht) that gives the broth its gentle tang. A big handful of lovage, the herb Moldovans adore, perfumes it. Simple and soul-warming, it is served with a dollop of smetana or a fresh chili.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 1/2 lb chicken pieces on the bone
1 1/2 cups flour (for noodles)
1 egg (for noodles)
2 cups carrot and onion, diced
1 parsley root (or celery root), diced
1 sweet red pepper, diced
1/2 cup borș ( bran brine) or lemon juice
1 handful fresh lovage and parsley
Hard to find? celery leaves and parsley - celery leaf is the nearest flavour but far milder; lovage is the soul of zeama, so use the leaves generously
Instructions
1
Simmer the chicken with the carrot, onion, parsley root, and sweet pepper to a flavourful broth, then shred the meat back in.
2
Make simple noodles from the flour and egg, roll thin, and cut into strips.
3
Cook the noodles in the broth, then stir in the borș or lemon to sour it.
✎ Chef’s note
Add the sour borș to taste at the end and off the boil. Too much or boiled hard makes it harsh rather than pleasantly tangy.
4
Finish with plenty of lovage and parsley and serve hot.
Moldovan home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Chișinău. Chisinau is a wine-country capital raised on mamaliga, cornmeal served with sheep cheese and sour cream. Moldovan cooking centres on placinta pastries, stuffed cabbage rolls, grilled meats, and the vineyards that surround the city.
🗺️
Moldova. Wine is not a sideline here but a documented one. The cellars at Milestii Mici, tunnels cut into limestone, hold what is recorded as the largest wine collection in the world, and household winemaking remains ordinary rather than remarkable. Placinta, the coiled or folded pastry filled with cheese, cabbage, potato or apple, is what gets eaten alongside.
🌍
Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Moldova
Mămăligă cu BrânzăThick cornmeal polenta layered with salty sheep's cheese and sour cream, the soul of Moldovan tables.
Plăcintă cu BrânzăPan-fried or baked flatbread pockets stuffed with salty cheese, a Moldovan morning favorite.
CornulețeTender sour-cream crescents rolled around a sweet walnut filling and dusted with sugar, a Moldovan holiday cookie.
Browse all Moldova recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Moldova meal
CornulețeDessert
Mămăligă cu BrânzăDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Zeamă?
A tangy chicken noodle soup soured with fermented bran brine and fragrant with lovage, Moldova's restorative bowl.
Where does Zeamă come from?
Zeamă is a Moldovan dish from Chișinău, Moldova.
Can Zeamă be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Zeamă recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Zeamă safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Zeamă take to make?
About 70 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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