Golden, clear, and worth the wait.
Build the pot
A stewing hen gives depth, frames give body, and necks give both. Use all three if you can — the best soup on the street isn't one bird, it's a combination.
Cold water, slow heat
Start everything in cold water and bring it up gently. A soup that boils goes cloudy and stays cloudy. One that barely trembles for three hours comes out gold and clear.
Skim, and keep skimming
The grey foam that rises in the first twenty minutes is the whole difference between a clean soup and a muddy one. Lift it off, and don't stir the pot.
The vegetables
Onion, carrot, celery, parsnip, dill and parsley. Add them an hour in rather than at the start — three hours reduces them to nothing. A whole onion left in its skin deepens the colour.
Finish and freeze
Strain and cool. Lift the fat cap off once it's cold, or keep it — that's schmaltz. The soup freezes perfectly, and matza balls and kreplach are best cooked fresh in it.