I think I mentioned in a previous post that one of the most comforting things about growing up on the islands was the amazing thick and rich soups we enjoyed just about every Saturday. Pig tails, salt beef, chicken, beef, vegetarian, salted cod or the 2nd most favorite of mine… fish broth with tons of macaroni and green bananas. There were so many versions of making these soups that we never got tired of soup-Saturday!
Today I’d like to share one of the ways of making salted pig tails with split peas soup. I call this one a “loner soup”, since I can’t convince anyone else at home to eat it with me. More for me I guess! Our girls eat just about every dish I make that’s considered “Caribbean”, except they won’t touch ground provisions and/or salted meats like pig tail, beef or cod.
Note: Don’t be turned off by the ingredients, it’s an amazing soup that’s more like a North American stew. It’s heavy, full of chunks of root vegetables and very thick.
You’ll need…
1 1/2 lbs of salted pig tails (ask your butcher to cut into 2 inch pieces)
2 medium potatoes (peeled and diced)
3 eddoes (peeled and diced)
1 1/2 lbs yam (not the sweet stuff – ask for Caribbean yam)
1 cup split peas
8 cups of water
1 can coconut milk (about 1/2 cup)
1 carrot (peeled and diced)
2 sprigs of thyme
1 tablespoon of green seasoning
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 hot pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 lime (juice)
EDIT (Jan 20 2010): I forgot to add 1 medium onion and 2 cloves of garlic to the ingredients list. Special thanks to Lygia for pointing this out to me. Chris…
Some optional ingredients. Feel free to add other ground provisions like cassava and green bananas as well as simple flour dumplins.
Let’s get started by washing the pieces of pig tails with the juice of the lime and water.After which place the pieces of meat into a deep sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes. We’re trying to get rid of some of the brine/salt that the pig tails were cured in. After which you drain the water out and get ready for the next step in cooking (below).
While this is cooking, let’s dice the garlic and onion. Add the oil to a very deep saucepan (keep in mind how much ingredients we have to fit in there) and heat, then add the diced onion and garlic. When the onion is soft (translucent), add the pieces of pig tails that you boiled for 20 minutes before.
After about 3 minutes we can start adding some of the other ingredients like… black pepper, thyme, coconut milk, green seasoning and the hot pepper. Wash the split peas and also add this to the pot. The split peas and pig tails will take a long time to cook and get tender. Almost forgot… add the 8 cups of water, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer. This will now have to cook for about 1 hr.
Note: the picture above was taken before I added all the water. This is why my pot seems like it doesn’t have 8 cups of water.
While this is simmering away (pot covered) let’s peel and dice the vegetables we’ll be adding.
You can prepare this step before-hand, but remember to place the vegetable in a large bowl and cover with cold water to prevent them from going discolored. The next step is to now add the vegetables to the pot, bring back to a boil, then reduce back to a simmer. Allow this to continue cooking for about 20 minutes. I like my yams and potatoes well cooked, to the point where it’s melting away. I forgot to mention. Cut the ground provisions and vegetables into fairly big pieces.
Let’s recap the cooking time so you’re clear.
- boil pig tails for 20 minutes then drain
- cook onions etc for 3 minutes
- then cook (everything except the vegetables) for about 1 hr
- add vegetable and cook for a further 20 minutes.
NOTE: You’ll notice that I didn’t add any salt in the cooking process. This is because the pig tails should add enough salt to the entire dish, even though we already boiled it before. Feel free to taste at the end and add any additional salt if required. If there’s ever the chance that I need to add salt, I usually add about a teaspoon of “golden ray” margarine (salted butter).
The finished product…
look very tasty and bright
Life without salted pig tails would be boring! At least for me
Cynthia´s last blog ..Notes on a Chicken Salad & Guest Posting!
Cynthia… my dad feels the same way about all salted meats. janice.. thx for stopping by and leaving your comments.
Cheers
Chris´s last blog ..Are you working according to your strengths?
Hey Chris! i just discovered your website about 2 weeks ago. I am a culinary arts student with 3 classes in the culinary field left and continuing with a degree in hotel and restaurant management. i am a american-trini, meaning my father was born in trinidad and my mom from brooklyn ny. i was born here (usa) but my heart and soul is in trinidada. what a beautiful country! i went to carnival for the first time in 08 and i feel like a born again trini gyal!lol! my father also in the culinary field had 5 restaurants in brooklyn named Baldhead’s but now he just caters! my passion is trini food. i love everything about it, so everything i make has a hint of trinidad. i saw your recipe for caribbean soup. i followed your recipe and Chris it was delicious! the only thing i did different was added a package of cock soup mix. which i decide while eating the soup i really didnt need to add.
Hey Chris you have a fan! lol!
Blessings to you and your family!
Chris: Greetings!! There is one recipe that I have not been able to perfect, that is get it to taste like home and that is ’sweet bread’. Can you help me in this area. In the meantime I enjoy your newsletters and pass them on to spouses and children of Trinidadians living overseas – must keep the culture growing.
Best wishes
Janice
hiya chris, when I was a lad growing up, pigs tail was definatly a favourite at homw, now we never see any in the butchers shop, maybe pigs have stopped growing tails
(( which is a shame because they certainly tasted good the way my mother cooked em mmmmmmmmmmm
Hello All, thanks for all your comments.
re: Glenda (also my sister’s name) You sound like someone I know who can’t get enough of TnT now that she played mas earlier this year. Trinidad and Tobago can be very addictive! Best of luck with your studies and do return and comment/test some of the other recipes. Maybe I can get your dad to give me some tips on restaurant ownership and the entire industry in general. My goal is to have my own restaurant very soon.
Re: Janice, I’ve not had a chance to make sweet bread yet and I don’t have a recipe at this point. However we leave for the islands in 2 weeks and I’m hoping to convince my grandmother to bake some so I can document it. The only problem is that she’s 94 and get’s tired a bit faster these days. I’ll let you know the outcome when we return.
Re: Peter. Pigs stop growing tails..man that’s a funny line. Here in Canada you can source them easily at Asian stores..most of the Caribbean grocers as well. I remember my grandmother sending me as a boy up to the village “chinee shop” to buy her salted pigtails, saltfish and/or salt beef. Bless her, she lived to be 93 with all that salted goodness!
Chris De La Rosa´s last blog ..More about the Chocloate Habanero or Chocolate Congo Pepper.
Salted Meat is hard to come by where I live so I salted my own pigtails. Soup is simmering on the stove as I type. Can’t wait. This is the ultimate all-in-one comfort food. We Bajans call this Bajan Soup but I realize that many of the other Caribbean Islands make it.
Salted pigtails are my favorite. I made a pot of this soup today and it really hit the spot. Any time its cold a thick soup really help. Mmmmmm!!!!
This soup looks delish. I will definitely try it soon. Thanks for sharing.
If you never tasted salted pigtail then half your life is missing!
hi chris happy new year to and your family,I love this recipe would you believe just today i was thinking of making soup with the ham bone and split peas and provisions with dumplings but like you my children don’t like it so i ended up makin fried chicken and mashpotato with corn, sour cream and ricotta cheese, it was good I’ll send you the recipe one day, but all in all I would have enjoy the soup better but there’s always tommorow.
Thanks Chris. Pig tail or ham bone in a soup – delicious! I usually pressure cook mine a bit first and change the water as I’m not supposed to use too much salt. Best wishes for 2010.
Wendy, Thanks for taking the time to leave your comments and wishes. I hope you achieve all you set for 2010 and you and your family enjoy good health and prosperity. Yes, definitely the salted meats must be boiled a bit to remove some of the salt. I too, try to keep away from too much salt.
Happy Cooking
Chris…
Donna, Thanks and all the best to you and your family. Seems we’re in the same boat. When I make this sort of soup, it’s usually a solo meal. Our girls will not touch it. They’re into the mashed potato as well.. but they do enjoy some of our Caribbean dishes as well. They were lucky enough to have my mom around when they were younger to spoil them with grandmas food.
Patiently awaiting your recipe.
Happy Cooking
Chris….
Russel.. ENT! Love me some salt meat too-bad.
Very nice! I followed this receipe and it came out muy excellente! One note though, the method in your receipe mentions preparing onions and garlic, however these are not listed in the “You’ll need…” section
Lygia, Thanks so much for pointing this out. I’ll update the recipe
Happy cooking
Chris….
I am a “Caricom Bajan” meaning my family were born in one or the other of the islands and have lived in Barbados for the past 50 years. I make what we call a “Long Soup” which is similar to yours but adding Ham bone, chicken,Pumpkin, Sweet Potatoe a bundle of Chives, Thyme and Marjoram in a massive pot. Sometimes I even put in Breadfruit if available. This is simmered for about 3 or 4 hours and when I call around and say “bring your bowl and spoon” I can have as many as 30 or 40 people turn up for a “Lime”!!! We fight over the Pig Tails so always have to have a large amount. In Barbados we also Barbecue Pig Tails at the side of the street and they are fantastic!!! Your children don’t know what they’re missing.
Suzette, sounds like something I’d book a flight to Barbados for. Funny enough only a few days ago a friend of mine living in NY told me about BBQ pig tails. In Trinidad and Tobago I don;t recall seeing pig tails being BBQed, but the feet and ears are used to make a thin soup called souse. Flavoured with lot of scotch bonnet peppers and shado beni.
happy cooking
chris..
be sure to keep sharing those wonderful dishes you make in Barbados. Can’t stop thinking about that massive pot of soup.
Hi Chris
I have been enjoying reading all of your recipes you have been sending me. I love pigtail . Pigtail & stew chicken, Pigtail in
all different kind of soups also in rice and pea.
Can you send me different kinds of recipes on Scotch Bonnett
pepper sauces. I have lots of peppers and I only make pickles
with them.
Would appreciate it if you could send me some recipes on
some Trini pepper sauces.
Thanks
J.Grant
Miami
Hi Chris,
I just wanted to say that I am about to make your oxtail stew. I cleaned, washed and seasoned them last night, so now I am ready to begin the real cooking. Wish me luck! I am not worried about cooking, I am just a little concerned about the brown sugar. I hope it doesn’t come out sweet. As for your pigtail recipe that sounds delicious. Where I’m from (Puerto Rico) we make a similar dish. We use salted pigs feet with either pink beans or garbanzos. OMG! That is to die for. As for your green sauce, its very similar to our recao except that we do not use celery and thyme. Well, continue posting fabulous recipes! I love anything from the Caribbean! The food is fresher tasting and comforting!
Aileen, PR is one of my favourite places.. especially old San Juan. Thanks for stopping by, commenting and sharing the similarities. The absolute best pork I’ve ever had was in San Juan…can’t remember the name of the restaurant now though (corona was too cheap that day).
happy cooking
chris…
Jeannette, thanks for stopping by and commenting. Funny thing is I only just set some seeds to get ready for the spring to plant in my garden. I’ve posted a couple pepper sauce recipes so far and will we posting more in the weeks to come. You can get the recipes sent to you by getting the newsletter (see top right of the page).
happy cooking
chris…