TANZANIA: Curried Banana + Fish Soup (Ndizina Samaki)
We are BAAAAAACK! Thank you for your patience as we took a month off to explore South America, get and recover from the flu, and take a week long business trip (a few of those things simultaneously). I’ll be getting Peru and Swaziland online asap and we have Cyprus cued up for this weekend.
If you haven’t done so already, please follow me on Facebook where I post news, photos, sneak peaks, new friends, updates, and other soupy things.
Okay, without further ado, here’s what we learned about Tanzania :
Since one of our life goals as a family is to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, we will be visiting Tanzania some day.
As independent countries, Tanzania (and one of its provinces Zanzibar) are both just slightly older than my husband.
Tanzania has 2 different capital cities. Dar Es Salaam is the former capital, but still maintains its place as the capital in the hearts of Tanzanians; Dodoma is the new administrative capital.
Here’s a fun website with lots of food info if you’re keen on cooking more Tanzanian fare
While “Hakuna Matata” is well known to us westerners, the phrase is uncommon among native speakers of Swahili in Tanzania, who prefer the phrase “hamna shida” in the north and “hamna tabu” in the south.
I found this music video out of Tanzania to be a really interesting study of the different classes in the country. Cheesy/romantic, yes… but it’s fascinating to see how the street scenes and lifestyles are depicted.
Finally, Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, has a thriving street food scene which Anthony Bourdain was kind enough to test out for me until I’m able to get there myself.
THE MEAL:
Although it was quite a different flavor profile than we are used to, this was a winner. It was pretty spicy, which I loved, but I might decrease the spice next time to make it more friendly to sensitive palates. I’d also love to try this with shrimp next time.
Hooray! My parents were here for a visit and joined us in Tanzania. Thumbs up from them! Papi said beer was the perfect thing to wash it down with!
Curried Banana + Fish Soup (Ndizina Samaki)
Serves 6
Ingredients
2lb flaky white fish (I used tilapia)
2 teaspoons fresh black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons peanut oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
8 cups chicken stock
1 15oz can chopped tomatoes
1 cup unsweetened dried coconut
2 ripe bananas, sliced into 1/2 inch chunks
Cooked white rice and cilantro, optional
Instructions
Season tilapia with fresh black pepper and salt.
In a large soup pot, heat oil and saute onions until translucent and tender.
Add garlic, curry powder, and red pepper flakes and fry for 2 more minutes.
Add the fish, stock, tomatoes and coconut, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes – stirring occasionally to break up fish into large chunks.
Add banana and simmer 10 additional minutes.
When ready to serve, ladle into bowls over white rice and garnish with cilantro for a bit of color if desired.
Cook’s Notes
This is relatively spicy as prepared with the full 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes. The boys both said they would have liked it if it hadn’t be so spicy. If you’re making this for kids, you could just omit the red pepper and allow people to add it to their bowls if they want a bit of a kick.
Here’s what we learned about Japan in our research this week:
Buckwheat noodles (soba) are traditionally eaten in Japan at midnight on New Year’s eve. According to wikipedia, “the tradition started around Edo period (1603-1867) and there are several theories believed that long soba noodles symbolize a long life.”
A recent study revealed that approximately 50% of Japanese citizens eat toshikoshi soba on New Year’s eve.
While buckwheat is gluten free, many soba noodles are made with both buckwheat and regular wheat. Check the packages carefully to find 100% buckwheat noodles if you eat gluten-free.
Here is a fun video showing you how easy toshikoshi soba is to make and how fun it is to say.
THE MEAL:
Remember back when Beckett chose Nsusu and Fufu because he could run around yelling those two words at the top of his lungs? Anyone want to guess why we made toshikoshi soba this week?
That only went on for 20 minutes or so. No idea why schnitzel was part of his chant. Anyway, our first attempt at toshikoshi soba was a complete flop and rendered utterly inedible due to the insane amounts of salt. Luckily, we had also made sushi and, since Dungeness crab season just started, a cucumber crab salad, so we didn’t go hungry. Plus, our friends arrived with fun Japanese sodas that had the kids so entranced, they barely noticed the food at all.Refusing to accept defeat, I retooled the recipe and nailed it this morning. The fun part of toshikoshi is that you can add whatever floats your boat to the soup. The first night (pictured here) included some leftover pork loin we had in the fridge, enoki mushrooms, and fish cakes. This morning, we used shiitake mushrooms, spinach, and eggs (pictured at the bottom of this post). The most important part of this soup is the broth and the noodles – the rest is just fun creation. If you have kids who aren’t so sure about trying new “ethnic” foods, a nice way to introduce them to Japanese food might be to make toshikoshi and allow them to put in whatever toppings they would like (like taco night only with Japanese soup!).
Toshikoshi – Soba Noodle Soup 年越しそば Serves 4
Ingredients
8 cups water
1 oz sliced dried shiitake mushrooms
2 teaspoons HonDashi bonito soup stock granules *
1/2 cup tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
1/2 cup mirin
1 tablespoon sugar (more to taste)
200g package soba 100% buckwheat noodles
2 large handfuls baby spinach leaves, optional
2 eggs, soft boiled, peeled and cut in half lengthwise, optional
4 green onions, sliced thin
1 package Enoki mushrooms, ends trimmed and separated, optional
6 ounce log fish cake, sliced into thin half moons, optional **
Cooked pork loin slices, optional
Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese pepper spice)
Instructions
In a large soup pot, bring water, shiitake mushrooms, and HonDashi to a boil. Add tamari, mirin, and sugar. Reduce heat to simmer and cover.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the soba noodles and cook until al dente – approximately 8 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse well under cold water to remove any excess starch.
While noodles cook, prepare all garnishes.
Prepare bowls by adding noodles and garnishes to bowls.
Add spinach to broth and cook until wilted. Gently ladle spinach and broth onto noodles and garnishes. Serve with Shichimi Mogarashi if you like things spicy.
Cook’s Notes
* HonDashi is a flavor additive that contains fish and msg among other things and gives a very rich umami flavor. You can make your own dashi if you prefer or you can substitute the dashi with salt.
** Many types of Japanese fish cakes contain gluten. Be sure to read the packages carefully.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: Curried Coconut and Lime Gourd Soup
Here’s what we learned about the Solomon Islands in our research this week:
There are around 1000 islands that make up the country and over 70 unique languages spoken.
It is believed that people have lived on the Solomon Islands for over 4000 years.
Due to global warming, the sea level in the Solomon Islands has been rising by eight millimetres per year compared to the global average of 2.8 to 3.6 mm
The Solomon Islands gained independence from Britain in 1978 – making the country younger than me.
While very dark skinned, 5-10% of Solomon Islanders carry a gene for blond hair!
There is precious little to be found about soups from the Solomon Islands online. I tried reaching out to resorts on the islands for guidance, but finally found what I was looking for by browsing the online menus of the various restaurants of the many resorts on the islands. I saw a few soups repeated – vegetable curry and pumpkin curry – so I ran with that idea.
Since everything I could find about the cuisine of the Solomon Islands talked about fish, fish, and more fish, I used fish stock in my soup, but this could be vegan by using vegetable stock. The real key to this soup is the Madras curry powder (which also happens to be SUPER good on popcorn). I found it at Safeway, so I’m guessing it should be pretty easy to find. It contains salt, so if you use a different curry powder, you’ll probably want to add some salt to your soup.
So, I worked sans sous chef today. Here’s the math:
Epic battle + First time trying out the word “sucks” = Banishment to room until said homework packets were completed and a reflection about the kind of language we use in our family was written
Banishment to room until said homework packets were completed and a reflection about the kind of language we use in our family was written + Need to make/eat soup = No sous chef
He did, however, manage to smile just once yesterday… but only because I told him to do so and (for the only time yesterday) he did what I asked. That smile, while it looks so genuine, disappeared immediately when I put down the camera and the “you’re the meanest mom in the world” routine continued. Sigh. His big brother, on the other hand, was thrilled with flying under the radar for the day, but not so thrilled with the soup. As he put it, “Mama, I’m just not a gourd guy.” Duly noted.
Okay, so parenting challenges aside, I thought this was outstanding. By using Trader Joes’ pre-cut & pre-peeled butternut squash cubes the hardest part of this soup was mincing all the shallots & the ginger. If I wanted to REALLY wanted to speed this up, I could use my mini food processor and throw everything in there to mince and this recipe would REALLY be a snap. This took about 30 minutes from start to finish and hit every mark for me – comforting, bright flavors, ever so slightly spicy, healthy, quick, easy and unique. We served it garnished with jalapeño and basil with grilled fish and jasmine rice on the side. I could eat this for lunch every day and be a happy, happy camper.
Curried Coconut and Lime Gourd Soup Serves 8
Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola (or other neutral) oil
1 cup shallots, chopped (approximately 4 large shallots)
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 lbs butternut squash, pumpkin, or other orange fleshed gourd, peeled and chopped*
4 cups fish stock or vegetable
2 cups water
3 tablespoons Madras curry powder*
1 can light coconut milk
juice of one lime
Instructions
Warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the shallots and cool until softened- approximately 3 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant being very careful not to allow the garlic to burn – approximately 1 minute.
Add the gourd, stock, and water and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the gourd is tender when pierced with a fork – approximately 30 minutes.
When gourd is tender, using a blender, food processor, or immersion blender puree soup until smooth.
Stir in curry powder, coconut milk and lime juice. Adjust seasoning – adding more salt if necessary – and serve topped with cilantro leaves, basil leaves, jalapeño slices or anything green and pretty.
Cook’s Notes
Trader Joes carries butternut squash already peeled and chopped into 1″ cubes. Crazy convenient.
Madras curry has salt added to it. If you use a different type of curry powder, you will need to add salt to your soup.
Here’s what we learned about Somalia in our research this week:
Somalia has a huge nomadic population and they eat primarily goat and camel meat.
The northern part of Somalia declares itself independent as Somaliland, but is unrecognized by most of the rest of the world. That part of Somalia was ruled by Britain until 1960.
The southern part of Somalia was ruled until 1960 by Italy. Therefore, pasta is incredibly popular in Somalia – some even suggest that pasta is the national dish of Somalia!
Somalia is 99% Muslim – the vast majority being Sunni.
Ramadan is observed throughout Somalia whereby fasting is observed during daylight hours for close to a month. Upon breaking the fast, many Somali families eat a very filling and hearty soup of goat and oats.
Doing a Google search of images of “Somalia kids” is not advised unless you (a) have tissues at hand, (b) are prepared to answer a lot of questions from your kids about starvation, and (c) can stomach it.
The recipe we chose would traditionally be eaten with hands by using a pancake like bread to grab little handfuls. I couldn’t find (and honestly, didn’t have the gumption to try) a gluten free version of this bread, so we went with rice instead. If you can eat gluten, here’s a great looking recipe!
THE MEAL:
So, it turns out that finding a Somali soup that can be verified to be a true and traditional soup of Somalia was quite a challenge. There are many wonderful Somali cooking blogs out there, but I couldn’t find a “official” source of Somali recipes to cross check any of the recipes I found online. Which led me into an interesting line of thinking about how the internet works and what people find online tends to be taken as gospel truth simply because it was found online. And I then realized that once I post this recipe out there on the interwebs, I will, in fact, be just as much an authority on Somali soups as anyone else who has ever put a recipe for Somali soup online. Wacky.
Anyway, I finally settled on two recipes I could vouch for the authenticity of and gave Calvin a choice between lamb shoulder stew and goat + oat stew. I was surprised when he chose the goat + oat, worried about how it would come out, and nervous about our friends coming over to join us with their two little boys. I should not have worried:
The enthusiastic response was immediate and all 4 boys went in for 2nds and one went for 3rds. Plus, my two boys had leftovers in their lunch boxes yesterday and both ate every bite while bragging to their friends (and intentionally grossing out the girls) about eating goat stew. Which reminds me… you don’t have to use goat. It is the traditional meat for this dish, but you could also use lamb or beef if you desire. If you’re really not into goat, don’t let the goat stand in the way of making this incredible soup – go ahead and use a different meat. I won’t tell anyone.
This soup is simultaneously simple and complex; hearty, but not rich. It is easy to make (once you’ve made the spice mix) and quick enough for a school night dinner. We served it with Somali rice, spice encrusted goat, and a DELICIOUS coconut hot sauce. For a quick an easy dinner, I might make a simple salad of cucumber and tomato to eat with this soup and call it a night. We will be making this one again for sure.
Oat + Goat Soup (Shurbad) Serves 4-10 depending on whether served as an appetizer or main
Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound ground goat meat (you can use lamb instead if you desire or beef if you don’t like goat or lamb)
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon xawaash spice (see recipe below)
2 boullion cubes (preferrably HerbOx)
8 cups water
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (Trader Joes and Bob’s Red Mill have gluten free versions)
Juice of one lemon
Instructions
Heat oil in large soup pot. Add goat meat and brown. Add onion and cook until the onions are translucent. Add garlic, tomatoes, and xwaash bariis- stir for 2 minutes.
Add water, boullion, and oats. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring frequently.
Using an immersion blender or a regular blender blend soup until smooth.
Add lemon juice and check for seasoning adding more xawaash bariis or salt as needed. I mixed a little olive oil and xawaash bariis to make a sauce I could drizzle on top for a little color.
Cook’s Notes
All adults and 2 of the kids at the table though the coconut hot sauce (recipe below) brought this recipe to the next level. Feel free to use a different meat if you desire. I won’t tell anyone.
Somali Spice Mix (Xawaash Bariis) Makes about 1 cup
Ingredients
1/4 cup cumin seeds
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 small cinnamon stick
24 cardamom pods
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
Instructions
Add all ingredients except last three to small frying pan and heat, stirring constantly, for 4-5 minutes until very fragrant. Cumin seeds will burn quickly if not attended to.
Place all ingredients in a spice grinder (I use a coffee grinder) and grind into a fine powder.
Pour into a glass jar and add ginger powder, nutmeg and turmeric powder. Place lid on jar and shake until all spices are well incorporated.
Somali Coconut Hot Sauce (Basbaas Qumbe) Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients
1/3 cup dried coconut, unsweetened preferrably
3 large jalapeños, stemmed (seeded too if less spicy is desired)
2 large cloves garlic
1 small onion
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon salt
Instructions
Soak coconut 15 minutes in boiling water to remove any sweetener and soften coconut; changing water at least once. Drain well.
Add all ingredients to blender and blend well.
Xawaash Encrusted Goat Meat(Hilib Ari Duban) Serves 6-8
Ingredients
Goat shoulder or leg (approximately 3 pounds)
3 tablespoons xawaash spice
3 tablespoons canola oil
4 large cloves garlic
2 tablespoons salt
Instructions
Preheat grill or oven to 300 degrees (we used a Traeger smoker grill).
Mix oil, xawaash, garlic and salt in small bowl. Spread mixture all over goat, making sure to get spices into every crevice.
Wrap goat tightly in aluminum foil at least 4 times – making sure every seam is well closed. (If steam escapes, meat will not cook properly.)
Allow goat to rest and marinate at least one hour. Marinate in the refrigerator overnight for best flavor.
Put on grill (with door closed), traeger, or in oven for 3-4 hours. Because all the moisture stays inside the foil, it is nearly impossible to over-do it.
Remove from heat and allow to rest for 20 minutes before opening foil.
Pick meat off bones and serve.
Sorry there is no before photo… the problem was it smelled so insanely good when it came off the grill that all 4 adults dove in before I remembered that we needed a photo. Oh well – we’ll just have to make it again.
Somali Spiced Rice (Bariis Iskukaris) Serves 8 as a side
Ingredients
2 cups basmati rice
4 tablespoons ghee (or olive oil)
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon xawaash spice
3 large cloves garlic
1/2 cup peas, more to taste
1/2 cup chopped carrots, more to taste
2 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons salt
Instructions
Rinse rice thoroughly until water runs clear.
In large pot that has a properly fitting lid, melt ghee over medium heat and fry the onions until they begin to caramelize.
Add xawaash, garlic and vegetables and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant – 2-3 minutes.
Add rice, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer and cover pan.
Simmer for 15 minutes then turn off stove (do not remove lid!) and allow rice to sit in covered pot another 15 minutes.
SWEDEN: Ärtsoppa + Pannkakor med Sylt Lingon (Yellow Pea Soup + Swedish pancakes with lingonberry jam)
Here’s what we learned about Ärtsoppa in our research this week:
Ärtsoppa (EHRT-soh-puh) is traditionally eaten on Thursdays in Sweden. It’s said that even the King of Sweden eats this on Thursdays. This tradition dates back to the middle ages.
The Finnish eat this same soup, but with green peas.
In Sweden, ärtsoppa is served in schools, the military, hospitals, government offices, and many restaurants on Thursdays.
It is traditionally eaten with Swedish pancakes and lingonberry jam. Also, these pancakes are not eaten for breakfast, but rather as a lunch/dinner item. That said, we had the leftovers for breakfast the next day. 😉
The traditional beverage that accompanies this meal is a liqueur called Punsch. It is not easy to find, but I HIGHLY recommend you seek out a bottle. It is low alcohol, sweet, and complex. It’s fantastic alone, over ice, served hot, with sparkling water, with lemon squeezed in, in your coffee… you get the point. Here’s more about Punsch. If you can’t find it in a store near you, there’s always online: K&L Wine Merchants has it available.
“When it rains soup, the poor man has no spoon” ~ SWEDISH PROVERB
THE MEAL:
What an exciting night in Casa SOOP. Not only did the SF Giants win the game that will send them to the world series (sorry Cardinals fans), but we got to have pea soup, Swedish pancakes, Swedish punsch, AND we got a visit from the fire department. As it turns out baseball games, liqueur and making pancakes don’t go so well together. (Quick shout out to my local fire department: thank you for responding so quickly! Next time, I will not walk away from a browning Swedish pancake to watch a home run hit!)
Okay, so deviating a bit from our traditional Sunday SOOP, we ate this soup on a Thursday as it is done in Sweden. Frankly, I did not give the soup enough time to cook (the recipe has been adjusted to reflect an increased cooking time), but since it was a school night, we forged ahead and just ate it a little crunchy. Even still, it was a hit. I have said my whole life that I don’t like split pea soup (sorry mom), but this recipe converted me. As it was cooking, I was pretty much grumbling under my breath about how it smells like split pea soup, but my boys all kept talking about how great it smelled, so I figured at least 3 people would like the soup. Turns out I liked it too.
Every thumb up! Ärtsoppa + Pannkakor med Sylt Lingon + Värmlandskorv (pork/potato sausage)
A trip to IKEA will yield you not only Swedish mustard and lingonberry jam, but also all kinds of fun chocolates, cookies, and other Swedish goodies. Maybe that’s why the kids were so excited about dinner last night! Do hunt down the Swedish Punsch too. There is a non-alcoholic version as well where you can add your own gin to make a fab cocktail. The boys got to have some of the non-alcoholic mixed with elderflower juice from Ikea. Happy campers.
This is the liqueur you want to try to find. If you don’t like it, don’t worry – I’ll drink it for you.
Scratching off Sweden!
Ärtsoppa Serves 6
Ingredients
2 cups dried yellow peas*
1 large smoked ham hock**
6 cups water
1 small onion
1 carrot, chopped small (I cheated and used Trader Joes’ shredded carrots)
8 cloves
2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, plus a few stalks for garnish
1/2 teaspoon – 2 teaspoons salt depending on how salty your ham hock is
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Whole grain mustard***
Instructions
Soak yellow peas for about 12-24 hours – discarding any impurities.
Before soaking overnight on the left; post soaking on the right. Huge difference!
Prepare small onion by spiking it with the 8 cloves.
After soaking, rinse the peas and add them to a large soup pot along with 6 cups water, ham hock, chopped onion, carrot, cloved onion, and thyme. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover.
Cookwith the lid on, stirring occasionally, untilthe peasaresoftenoughapproximately 6 hours****.
When it is tender, remove the meat and cutinto small piecesand returnmeatto the soup – discarding bones, fat and gristle.
Remove and discard cloved onion. If desired, use an immersion blender to puree soup (we did).
Check for seasonings – adding more salt or pepper.
Serve with whole grain mustard – each person adding as much as they like to their tastes.
Cook’s Notes
* Nordic yellow peas are not the easiest thing to come by. I found them at a Scandinavian grocery store in Berkeley. They do mail orders. Nordic House has the whole yellow peas which are more traditional, but split yellow peas can be used if you can’t find the whole yellow peas. If you use split yellow peas, you do not need to soak the peas over night – just begin soaking them the morning you plan to make this soup. Bob’s Red Mill carries split yellow peas.
** This can be made vegetarian by omitting the ham hock. Since a lot of the salt/depth of flavor comes from the ham hock, please replace the ham by adding a vegetarian bouillon cube.
*** Ikea sells whole grain mustard that is unlike any mustard we’ve tasted before. It’s almost like a cross of dijon, honey mustard, and gouldens. It is quite spicy, but sweet at the same time and was absolutely delicious in this soup. If you don’t live near an Ikea, I’d recommend dijon with a little bit of honey stirred in as a substitute. Beckett found it a little too spicy for his liking, but found the lingonberry jam quite delightful.
**** Split yellow peas will take at least half the time. Next time I will use split yellow peas. 😉
Pannkakor med Sylt Lingon | Gluten-Free Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberries Makes 12 pancakes depending on the size of your frying pan.
6 eggs
5 cups of milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour*
4 tablespoons of butter, melted
Preheat oven to “warm” or lowest setting and place a plate or cookie sheet in the oven.
Whisk the eggs and add in the milk- continuing to whisk until blended. Add flour, salt and melted butter and mix together until thoroughly combined. Batter should be fairly thin – about half as thick as traditional American pancake batter.
Spoon 1/2 cup of batter into a large buttered frying pan at medium-low heat and spread the mixture around by tilting the pan as you would for a crepe.
Brown the pancake on one side – watching for bubbles to form on the top. Before flipping, take a peek and make sure bottom side is browned. Flip your pancake over and brown on the other side.
Once browned on both sides, place in oven to keep warm while you make the rest of the pancakes.
Serve with a generous spoonful of lingonberry preserves (this can be found at IKEA)
* THIS is my go to all-purpose GF flour. It hasn’t let me down yet. I make a big batch of it and use it in everything. It was truly hard to tell that these pancakes were gluten-free.
Here’s what we learned in our research/kitchen time this week:
There are actually 3 Hungarian stews made from onions, meat and paprika: gulyás, pörkölt and paprikás.
The dish called pörkölt (pronounced PURR-colt) is what we Americans call “goulash” (thick meaty stew). Gulyás is a soup and paprikás is similar to pörkölt, but only made with chicken.
When chopping onions, if you chew gum at the same time, you will not cry.
Speaking of onions, do not be scared off by the amount of onion in this recipe. Rather than making the stew bracing, they actually caramelize down to bring a wonderful sweetness to the stew.
The Rubik’s cube was invented in Hungary (and none of us can solve it).
This dish matches the colors of the Hungarian flag: red, white, & green.
If you’re curious to hear how Hungarian sounds as sertéspörkölt is being made, here you go! He makes his a little differently from how I make mine, but the recipe is fairly similar.
THE MEAL:
Calvin researched Hungarian soups for about 4 seconds before pointing at a photo of Pörkölt and saying, “that’s it! Let’s make that!” Okay kid.
It took me a few tries to get this recipe right – it was good the first night, but kind of a pain to make, so I retooled the recipe and made it again the next night. Everyone agreed that not only was the stew better, but it was WAY easier and produced many fewer dishes!
Calvin was eager to help my chop all the onions required for this dish because I’d told him about a theory that chewing gum keeps you from crying while chopping onions.
The verdict: it works!
The big issue with this meal was my attempt to make a gluten-free version of traditional Hungarian nokedli which are basically spaetzle. My first several attempts were actually laughably bad, but the last version (a modified version of THIS recipe) actually worked okaaaay, but I didn’t think it was good enough yet. We all liked the pörkölt better with the pasta, but just to prove that I made my own nokedli (no matter how bland they were) here is photo proof!
Okay, so side aside, this is a TOTAL keeper recipe. Even after eating it for dinner two nights in a row, everyone agreed that this should go into regular rotation. Even my soup-reluctant husband said I should make it again. This is the PERFECT fall/winter dish that will simply simmer all afternoon and make you feel all warm and cozy when you eat it. Next time, completely divergent from traditional pörkölt, we will make a gremolata (chopped parsley, fresh garlic, and lemon zest) to bring a little zing to the finished product. Oh, and the pepper relish from Comoros (poutou) was pretty stellar with this dish too. Hungarian/Comoran fusion cooking…. coming soon to a kitchen near you!
Finally, though this would have been stellar with a red wine, the only Hungarian wine we could find this weekend was a fantastic white from the foot of the Mátra mountains. This description from the importer nails it:
Originally crossed in 1930, the parents of this native grape are Gewürztraminer and Muscat Ottonel. Not surprisingly, it’s incredibly perfumed and floral. That said, its not fat and weighty on the palette like Gewürztraminer can often be and has there’s no detectable residual sugar either. The finish has a mineral, almost saline quality that balances out the Muscat heavy aromatics. And while the style is decidedly reductive, it opens up right away and jumps out of the glass even when chilled. While it can easily stand alone as an aperitif, it pairs beautifully when fruit and salt play off of each other. Prosciutto and melon is a classic, but we’ve also found that Indian food (especially chutneys) pairs extremely well.
You can get wines from along the Danube from these guys including the Irsai Oliver we loved this weekend.
Sertéspörkölt (Hungarian Pork Stew) Serves 8
Ingredients
2 tablespoons bacon fat or lard
2 large onions, diced
2 pounds pork butt shoulder, trimmed of bones and fat and cut into 1 cubes
2 medium banana peppers*, cut into 1/2″ dice
1 large tomato*, chopped or one 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon whole caraway seeds, ground
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
chopped parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Heat large dutch oven or soup pot over medium low heat. Add bacon fat or lard to pot and render. Add onions and cook slowly, stirring frequently, until onions are beginning to caramelize and have changed from white, past opaque, to deep tan. Go slowly so onions don’t burn – this is the most important part of the whole meal. This step should take at least 30 minutes.
Add garlic and pork, increase heat to medium and stir constantly until pork is cooked on all sides and beginning to release its juices.
Add chopped pepper and tomato. Combine well. Add 6 cups water paprika, caraway and marjoram, stirring gently to combine. Simmer, uncovered, until most of the liquid has boiled down and sauce is a thick gravy (approximately 1.5 hours though you could go all day so long as you make sure there is enough water in the pot).
Check pork for tenderness. If it is not quite tender, add another cup of water and simmer longer until sauce is desired consistency. Once pork is tender enough to be cut easily with a fork, add salt and season with pepper to taste and serve over a bed of pasta.
Cook’s Notes
* If you can’t find a banana pepper, yellow gypsy peppers or yellow, green or red bell peppers would work. We used red pepper and chopped it small to hide it from our boys who think they don’t like peppers.
* Unless you are in the middle of tomato season, use canned tomatoes as they will have much more flavor that the flavorless winter tomatoes. We used dry farmed tomatoes which are possibly the most delicious thing on the face of the planet.
* Hungarian paprika is very different from the standard paprika you can find at the grocery store. It is not expensive and totally worth seeking out. It comes in “sweet” and “hot”. Here’s more about paprika.
Traditionally, this would be served with a spaetzle-like pasta called nokedli. I tried 4 different times to perfect a gluten-free version of nokedli and finally gave up and served it over Jovial’s gluten free egg tagliatelle.
Here’s what we learned about Comoros in our research this week:
Comoros exists.
It is pronounced KOHM-uh-rohs
It is a group of 3 (or 4 depending on who you ask) main islands in the channel between Mozambique and Madagascar. The 4th island is Mayotte which voted to stay a part of France in 1975, but many Comorans still claim it as one of theirs.
It gained its independence from France in in 1975 and has had over 20 coups since then.
It is one of the poorest countries in the world where the average daily wage is just over $1.
Each island has it’s own cuisine.
There is very, very little to be found online about the food of Comoros, but what can be found suggests African, Arab, Indian, and French influences.
It is proper to say “bismillah” (thanks to Allah) before eating.
Though there is no legal drinking age in Comoros, alcohol is not considered proper according to Islam (the dominating religion), but it is served in most European restaurants. (Note: If I ever go to Comoros, you’ll know where to find me.)
Here’s a fun video showing Comoros from a tourist’s perspective. Check out that rain!
THE MEAL:
When we drew Comoros from the cup, I asked my Facebook community for a suggestion and my friend Joanne, a native South African now living in Australia, recommended Sweet Pea as a traditional Comoran soup (I hope I have represented it well Joanne!), but my research (what little of it there is to see) kept mentioning a stew called Le Me Tsolola (or Leme Tsolola). As I’ve mentioned, James thinks of soup as an appetizer instead of a meal, so for Comoros, that’s exactly what he got… a soup appetizer and a stew meal. SOOP-o-rama.
Our friends braved the bridge to join us, but not before I sent them on a wild goose chase for jackfruit on Clement street in San Francisco. I had read that jackfruit was commonly eaten in Comoros and thought it would be fun for the kids to experience eating something that looks so, well, terrifying for dessert. I had hunted all over the east bay – Oakland Chinatown, Koreana Plaza, Berkeley Bowl, 99 Ranch – without luck, so I sent our friends to scour San Francisco. When their search left them empty-handed, we learned that jackfruit goes out of season in September. Oh well. To the right is what it would have looked like had we found it fresh (keep in mind that this is the size of a large watermelon covered with spikes.
Instead, our jackfruit looked like the below:
Since it was a hot October (summer in San Francisco) night and we had TWO hot soups to eat, we cranked up the Nawal (the voice of Comoros) and hit the deck (not literally, of course). I was quite nervous for this meal because not only was it utterly unlike anything I’d ever made before, but also our friends who joined us are outstanding cooks and I didn’t want to look like a fool in front of them. I’d only found a couple of recipes on which to base my creation and I worried that it simply wouldn’t work.
I should not have worried. This was FANTASTIC! The pea soup had a nice refreshing gingery flavor and was a great foil to the coconut richness of the goat. The only change I would make (noted in the recipe) is that the goat was a bit grisly, so next time (and there WILL) be a next time, I will grind the goat in my cuisinart to make it easier for everyone to eat. Of course, this will be completely nontraditional, but it will taste very good.
Oh – do not make this without making the Poutou (chili relish) and do not fret when you make it that it is too spicy because the spice will mellow out considerably after a couple of days . It really completes the flavors of the meal – the kick and the acid in the sauce take it over the edge into pure divine. I can also happily report that the relish is fantastic on eggs, tossed in with quinoa and arugula as a fun side dish, and over pan-fried fish. Say hello to your new little friend Poutou.
This was rich, flavorful, zesty, complex and just overall delightful. I wasn’t sure about the cayenne pepper for the kids, but they all at it like crazy. There may have even been some bowl licking….
…. which was a good thing because just as the sun went down, the lights went out and we cleaned up the kitchen in candle light. The plates that were licked were a lot easier to clean.
I forgot to take any photos of the Coconut Punch (probably because of the Coconut Punch), so I can’t show you how pretty it was, but imagine a nice glass of eggnog that with a bright yellow rim and a stick of vanilla in it. At first sip, our friends shouted out “Tropical Eggnog!”, I may make this at Christmas this year instead of traditional eggnog. It is quite thick and very sweet, so it was maybe not the best drink for a hot night, but regardless, nary a drop was left by the end or our 90 degree day. 8 thumbs up.
Sweet Pea Soup Serves 8 as a small appetizer
Ingredients
4 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound frozen peas (thawed)
1/2 pound tomatoes chopped
3 teaspoons ginger, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 can light coconut milk, 3 tablespoons reserved for garnish
4 cups water
thinly sliced lime wheels for serving
Instructions
Remove peas from the freezer and place on a plate on the counter to thaw while you do your chopping.
Meanwhile, over medium-low heat, heat olive oil in a large pot a 4 quart saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Gently cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until onions have softened.
Add the rest of the ingredients (except the coconut milk) and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes.
Using an immersion blender (or a regular blender), blend soup until smooth.
Add the coconut milk,raise to a simmer just to warm coconut milk. Do not allow it to boil.
Calvin – today’s sous sous chef.
Serve by drizzling reserved coconut milk over the top in a spiral pattern and adding a lime wheel. (Or you can use a small medicine syringe to make intricate patterns and decorate with basil leaves and flowers torn from the garden.)
Le Me Tsolola: Goat & Banana Stew Serves 4
Ingredients
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 1/2 lb goat stew meat, cut into 1″ pieces (next time I would grind it in a food processor as it was fairly grisly)
Salt
Cayenne pepper
2 onions, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
2 medium green plantains, peeled cut into 1″ pieces
1 can coconut milk + 1 can full of water
salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
1 lime, cut into wedges for serving
Instructions
Season goat with salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Heat pan to medium high and fry the goat in a little oil until well browned on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the plantains, onions and tomatoes to pan and stir until softened.
Return meat to pot. Pour-in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
Cover and allow to simmer for an hour (add a little water or more coconut milk if it becomes too dry).
Season to taste with additional salt or cayenne pepper.
Serve immediately on a bed of white rice with pepper sauce (recipe below) and lime wedges on the side.
1 small fresh red chili (habañero is traditional – I used a red jalapeño), roughly chopped
3 medium tomatoes, quartered
1 organic* lemon, quartered
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
2 large cloves garlic, peeled, halved
2 tablespoons salt
Instructions
Place all ingredients (including the peel and pith of the lemon) in a blender or food processor and blend until ingredients form a chunky salsa.
Refrigerate at least 24 hours to allow flavors to blend. Fear not, the spice will mellow out considerably after a few days.
*An organic lemon is important becaue you will put the peel into the relish. Standard lemons are often coated with wax and pesticides.
Comoran Coconut Punch (Punch Coco)…. Tropical Eggnog Serves 4 (Again, alcohol is not allowed according the the laws of Islam, so this would most likely be served sans alcohol in Comoros. Feel free to use the rum or not according to your own desires. Also – apologies… I completely forgot to take any photos of this, but it was very pretty and very delicious)
Ingredients
2 cans light coconut milk
1 small can (5.8 oz) condensed milk
juice and grated zest of 2 large limes, rinds saved
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons honey
1 pod vanilla, seeds scraped out and reserved, then split lengthwise into four long sticks
1 package Trader Joes dried jackfruit, ground to a powder in a spice grinder or food processor, divided (2 Tablespoons goes in the punch, the rest goes on the rim)
4 ounces dark rum, optional
Instructions
Place all ingredients (including the vanilla seeds, but excluding the vanilla sticks) except the rum in a blender. Blend well until smooth.
Meanwhile, run emptied lime rinds along rim of 4 glasses to wet rim and dip rim in Jackfruit powder
Pour punch into glasses. Top with a float of 1 oz rum (or more if you’d like) in each cup (if using) and garnish with vanilla sticks and a sprinkling of cinnamon
I was a little chagrined when Calvin drew USA so early in the game, but so be it. And the obvious answer to “what is the classic soup from the USA?”? Chicken Noodle, of course. But, let’s face it; everyone and their mother has a chicken noodle soup recipe. So for this week, I can either try to find the most traditional recipe ever or off road a little bit and reinvent the wheel perhaps. So, being the, er, quirky gal I am, I’m off-roading. Without further ado, I present you with the chicken noodle soup I cooked in undergrad whenever I had a hangover. (Since this is for and with the kids, I won’t mention how frequently I cooked this soup.)
It all started with a hangover and the need/desire for something comforting to my brain and my stomach. Opening the fridge revealed standard chicken noodle soup fixings (except the carrots which I didn’t have) and as I had been fairly unkind to my body the night before I decided to throw in a little bit of everything green I had in there. And “hangover soup” was born. It’s a little bit crunchy, a little bit tangy, a lot of green, and a lot of good. Oh, and it works. Hangovers (or colds for that matter) be gone!
1 cup dried pasta of your choice (we used Jovial gluten free fusilli)
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley (including stems), minced
1 cup celery, minced
juice of 3 limes
salt and pepper to taste
lime wedges to serve
Instructions
In a large soup pot, heat olive oil on medium. Generously salt and pepper both sides of chicken thighs. Brown chicken until both sides are browned, about 5 minutes a side. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
In the same pan add onions and saute on low until translucent. Add garlic, celery, and herbs. Saute for about 8 minutes. Add chicken broth and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile shred chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add meat and any juices that may have settled in the plate to the simmering broth. Once chicken has been added and is cooked through, allow another 15 minutes of simmer time for flavors to merge.
Meanwhile, prepare pasta according to directions – removing it from hot water when it is quite al dente. (We did a taste test of various GF pastas and found that Jovial’s brown rice pasta held up wonderfully and was everything we wanted in our chicken noodle soup. Trader joes’ brown rice/quinoa pasta was a close 2nd.)
Add fresh parsley, celery, and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper as needed to taste. To serve, add pasta to bowl and top with soup.
You see that jersey Calvin is wearing? Balotelli is and Italian soccer player nicknamed Super Mario by fans because of his surprising actions on and off the field. Like Balotelli, like Calvin. I think we have a new nickname for him.
Pre-meal taste testing gets two thumbs up and a tongue.
THE MEAL:
Nearly 9 years ago, when I was heavily pregnant with Calvin and Beckett was only 18 months old, I was still working as a wedding photographer and was having a hard time keeping up with life. I posted an ad on craigslist for a mother’s helper and an angel responded. Auntie Edie walked into our house and hearts and our life has been so much richer ever since.
So, when Calvin drew the USA, I posted on facebook asking my friends for the best ever chicken noodle soup recipe and Auntie Edie responded with how she makes hers. Today’s soup version is an amalgam of my hangover cure made with her grown up technique (aka: a technique I never could have accomplished in undergrad – especially not with an hangover). When I was in school, I just used canned chicken stock and boiled chicken breasts in the broth before shredding it. It was good, but Auntie Edie’s technique of browning chicken thighs in the pan first made our soup so much richer and more umphy (my made up word of the day to describe good). Thumbs up Auntie Edie – this version is sure to become a staple in our house.
Thanks for joining us Auntie Edie and for making our lives so much more umphy!
NOTES:
A hangover is not required to enjoy this soup. Hangover soup freezes really well. Just leave out the pasta and make some fresh when you defrost the soup. This soup is also really great with rice, quinoa, or no grains whatsoever. I will occasionally also throw in a handful or two of spinach, baby kale, or chard if I have it on hand. You can’t go wrong really – just toss in whatever veggies you love.
SOUTH KOREA: Beef Seaweed Soup with Clams / Sogogi Miyeok-guk (소고기 미역국)
The moment we drew South Korea we called our good friend Beau, who just moved back to the USA after spending the last 10+ years in South Korea, and asked him his advice. Without hesitation, he suggested Miyoek-guk. Actually his words were “Oh dear… um… Korean soups are really complex. There’s a great one called Miyoek-guk. Miyoek = seaweed. Guk= soup. Seaweed slightly fried with soy sauce, sesame oil and tiny bits of pork. Then put into an amazingly savory soup often with tiny clams….” and then he fell silent with a dreamy look on his face. Okay, so we have our soup because Beckett heard the wistfulness, seaweed, savory + clams and he was sold.
Researching South Korea
Miyoek-guk is quite famous in Korea and is referred to as “birthday soup”. It is the first food that new mothers eat once they give birth and people traditionally eat it on each birthday to commemorate their day of birth – hence the nickname. According to legend, many, many years ago Koreans observed whales eating seaweed after giving birth and adopted the same technique for postpartum recovery. It’s no wonder whales eat it: seaweed, one of nature’s superfoods, contains amazing amounts of iron, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B12, and is purported to assist with healthy immune systems, proper thyroid function, and healthy blood pressure.
But wait! There’s more! Apparently, seaweed is also really great for brain function and is often given to students before exams. (Note to self: remember this! In order to do so, please eat more seaweed!)
Based on recipes online, it appears that Korean “birthday soup” can be made with beef, pork, clams, or vegetarian. For our version, we opted for beef + clams.
Beef Seaweed Soup with Clams Serving: 8-10
Ingredients
Marinade
2 teaspoons of Korean soy sauce* (guk-ganjang)
2 large cloves garlic, minced (approximately 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Soup
1/2 lb lean meat such as brisket or flank steak, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 lb small clams**
3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 oz (30g) dried seaweed (miyeok) (approximately 2 cups), cut or broken into 1-2″ pieces
10 cups water
4 tablespoons Korean soy sauce* (guk-ganjang)
4 tablespoons fish sauce, preferably Korean anchovy
1 clove garlic, sliced very thin
1 green onion, sliced very thin
* Gluten free Korean soy sauce is available online. I found it on Amazon. ** If you can’t find good fresh clams, many asian grocery stores carry packages of small clams in the frozen section.
Instructions
Prepare the marinade by mixing all ingredients in a medium bowl. Add beef and allow it to marinate while you complete the next steps.
Prepare clams by placing them in a large pot and cover completely with 10 cups cold water. Bring pot to a boil then reduce heat to low. Skim any foam. Boil 20 minutes.
Strain clam broth through a cheesecloth, reserving both the broth and the clams, but discarding all impurities.
Drain the seaweed then massage with 3 tablespoons of salt until seaweed is evenly coated.
Rinse salted seaweed with cold water 3 to 5 times until it no longer foams and all dirt and salt is removed. Pull apart and discard any extra thick or stringy pieces of seaweed. Squeeze out any excess water.
Heat a medium-sized pot on medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons of sesame oil and sauté the marinated beef for 2 minutes. Add chopped seaweed and sauté on medium for 5-10 minutes until most of the moisture of the seaweed is gone. Be sure to stir frequently so seaweed does not burn.
Add clam broth, clams, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic + green onions. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer, cover and simmer for at least 1 hour (soup develops more flavor the longer it cooks).
Tips:
We tried several different kinds of seaweed and there was a definite winner. If you can find this brand, you’ll be pleased you did. Some of the others we tried were extra slimy, overly fishy, or simply fell apart. This seaweed retains its crunch and delicate flavor. Thumbs up.
The Meal:
Well, the Miyeok-Guk was not a huge hit with the kids*, but the adults all enjoyed it quite a bit once we put in extra hot sauce and kimchee. We served it with egg custard (gyeran jjim), kimchee, bulgogi, rice, seaweed salad and Trader Joes’ Korean veggie pancakes (pa jeon). Everyone left full and hopefully a little smarter thanks to the seaweed superfood.
*My theory on why it wasn’t a hit with the kids: we didn’t use the good seaweed and didn’t put enough soy sauce in the first batch. When I tested the recipe again the next day with the good seaweed and more soy sauce, it was wolfed down. The recipe above has been adjusted to reflect that modification.
weekend was a fantastic white from the foot of the Mátra mountains. This description from the importer nails it:
sent our friends to scour San Francisco. When their search left them empty-handed, we learned that jackfruit goes out of season in September. Oh well. To the right is what it would have looked like had we found it fresh (keep in mind that this is the size of a large watermelon covered with spikes.
SOOP: Soups Of Our Planet 