Turkish Yayla Çorbası with Yogurt and Mint

Yayla Çorbası is the kind of soup that looks simple but asks for patience. The rice first cooks gently in broth until it softens and gives the soup a little body. Separately, yogurt is whisked with egg and flour until smooth: a small step that makes the difference between a silky soup and a curdled one. Then the warm broth is added to the yogurt slowly, ladle by ladle, until everything settles together. Over low heat the soup becomes thicker and creamier, without ever boiling hard. The mint butter comes at the end: butter briefly sizzling with mint, then running over the white soup in fragrant green streaks. Soft, warm and homely.