Crayfish soup with dill and delicate dumplings

Separate the tails from the cooked crayfish, remove the meat from tails and claws, take out the dark intestinal vein from the tails and refrigerate the meat. Keep the empty tail shells, claws and legs; remove the innards and gills from the head-and-body sections, leaving only the hard outer shells. Rinse the cleaned shells briefly, drain and dry thoroughly, then crush in a mortar or gently break with a rolling pin through a clean cloth.

Cut the peeled carrot, parsley root and celeriac into small dice and finely chop the onion. Prepare a saucepan of about 4 l capacity and a fine metal sieve for straining the stock later.

Melt 60 g butter in the saucepan over low heat, add the dried crushed shells and heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring, until the butter turns orange and smells of crayfish. Add the vegetables and stir for about 3 more minutes, without letting the butter or shells burn.

Pour in the stock water, add the bay leaf and allspice and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook over low heat with the lid slightly ajar for 30 minutes to draw flavor from the shells and vegetables. Meanwhile, make the batter in the next step and, near the end of the stock cooking time, start heating a separate saucepan of water for the dumplings.

Separate the yolks from the whites. Cream the soft dumpling butter with the yolks and batter salt until pale, and whisk the whites to a foam in a clean bowl. Mix the flour and one third of the foam into the yolk mixture to loosen it, then gently fold in the remaining foam with a spatula. The batter should be soft and fluffy, easy to scoop with a small teaspoon.

Carefully pour the stock through a fine metal sieve lined with clean cheesecloth into a clean saucepan, letting the orange butter drain well too. Do not rub the shells through the mesh or cloth; discard the shells, vegetables and spices from the sieve. Keep all the strained liquid with its surface fat so you do not lose the crayfish aroma.

In a separate saucepan, bring the dumpling water and its allotted salt to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Dip a small teaspoon in the hot water and slide off small portions of batter, roughly half a teaspoon each; cook all the batter in two batches, without crowding the dumplings. Cook for about 3 minutes, including at least a minute after they float, until tender and cooked inside. Lift out with a slotted spoon and divide among four deep plates; drain off the water.

In a small bowl, mix the sour cream with a few spoonfuls of hot strained stock, then pour into the saucepan, stirring. Add all the picked crayfish meat, soup salt and white pepper, then heat over low heat for 2–3 minutes without boiling hard, until the meat is hot. Wash, dry and finely chop the dill and stir into the soup.

Pour the hot soup into the plates with the dumplings, dividing the meat and stock evenly. Serve immediately, keeping the soup light and the dumplings fluffy.