Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Plantain Soup

This past Saturday, I got together with some of my MAMA Project team members that went to Honduras back in January and February. It was suggested that we bring a Honduran or Latin American dish for our meal together. So I found a recipe for Plantain Soup that took about two and a half hours to make; but it was delicious. Below is a recipe for eight to ten servings:

  • Finely chop two medium size onions, two carrots, two celery stems, and two garlic cloves and set aside.
  • Heat two tablespoons olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat.
  • Add chopped vegetables to large sauce pan and cook uncovered for about four minutes.
  • Peel four plantains, quarter them lengthwise, and thinly slice them; set aside.
  • Remove stems and finely chop one bunch cilantro; set aside.
  • Add five 14 ounce cans (or 8 cups) of chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat.
  • Add plantains, cilantro, one and a half teaspoons cumin, and a bay leaf or two.
  • Season with salt and coarsely ground black pepper.
  • Return to a boil; then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for forty to fifty minutes.
  • Remove and discard bay leaf(s).
  • Take half of soup and puree it in a blender till smooth.
  • Return to large sauce pan.
  • Add one more 14 ounce can of chicken broth
  • Bring back to boil and serve.
  • You may add more salt or cumin before serving to suit individual taste.

For those who want to know a little more about plantains, I recommend visiting the Cooking with plátanos web page.

7 comments:

Minka said...

I am impressed that you were able to brew this stew! Kudos for pure dedication :)

Van Cong Tu said...

where is the picture Tim???

Tim Rice said...

Thanks, minka. If I have the time, money, and a recipe, there's not much that I'm afraid to try making.

Sorry, godknows. This time I didn't take a picture. I was in a hurry that day making it. But it was mostly a gravy brown with a little orange from the carrots and a little green from the cilantro. The soup had a creamy texture.

San Nakji said...

That sounds really nice. Plantains are little bananas right? I think we can buy them in Pacific Island shops... May have a go!

Suzanne said...

Thanks for the recipe, I'm going to try this. What area in Honduras did you visit? I'm looking to spend some time in Copan Ruinas.

sage said...

The soup sounds wonderful... Do you serve it hot or cold? And by the way, I don't remember seeing any blenders in Honduras!

Tim Rice said...

Sorry, san nakji. Plantains are not little bananas. The ones I used were as big or bigger than regular bananas. However, I recommend that you check out the web site at http://www.elboricua.com/platanos.html and there you can see pictures and information about plantains.

You're welcome, zanne. I spent seven days in the San Pedro Sula area and Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning in Copan. The Copan Ruinas are well worth seeing particularly if you have a good guide to take you around. We had a local guide name Juan Carlos who was quite excellent. He was also our guide for a two hour horse ride from Copan. We also spent some time at the Parque de Aves (Bird Park)near Copan which I thoroughly enjoyed. And of course browsing the shops and trying some of the local foods is a must.

sage, I served it hot Saturday evening; but had a little left over which I ate cold straight from the refrigerator. I liked it both ways. So I guess it's your choice. You know, I didn't see any blenders in Honduras either; but I'm sure they are there at least among the wealthier people. The day before we left coming home from Copan we stopped at a mall in San Pedro Sula for supper. It looked just like our big malls here in the states. But I preferred going to the marketplace and the small eating places over that mall.