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Meat & Poultry

Grandma’s Split Peas And Dumpling Soup.

This is as classic a Caribbean soup can get, as it’s loosely based on a thick dhal (yellow split peas) and dumpling soup my grandmother would make on a Saturday (have you heard of Soup Saturday?). Truly simplicity at it’s best! My grandmother would usually flavor hers with bits of Salted Cod, but we’ll be using salted Pig tail in this version.

You’ll Need…

1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil (any oil you like using)
1 large onion (diced)
5 cloves of garlic (smashed)
1/2 scotch bonnet pepper
3-4 lbs salted pig tail (prepped)
1 1/2 cups yellow split peas (washed)
2 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups coconut milk
5-8 cups water
5 medium potatoes (1/4)
1 large carrot (cut into 1/4 inch coins)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon brown sugar
pinch of salt (for dumplings)
3/4-1 cup water for the dumplings
2 tablespoon parsley (chopped)

  • You can replace the salted pig’s tail with salted Cod fish. Smoked bones or turkey will work just as great. Or feel free to rock it without any of those and keep it vegetarian.

Start by prepping the salted pig’s tail. Cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces (you can ask your butcher to do this). Give it a good rinse with cool water, then into a deep pot with water (cover). Bring to a boil and simmer for 40-50 minutes. This will make it tender and remove most of the salt it was cured in. Drain and set aside for now. or Feel free to boil for 30 minutes, drain, add new water, bring back to a boil and cook another 30 minutes if you want.

Put your huge soup pot on medium flame, add the oil followed by the onion, garlic and scotch bonnet pepper (use and pepper you may have on hand and in the amount you can handle). Turn the heat down to low and let it gently cook for 3 minutes.

Add the pre-cooked salted pigtails, black pepper and Caribbean Green Seasoning, followed by the washed split peas. Stir well.

Now add the coconut milk and 4 cups of water. Turn the heat up and bring to a boil. Then reduce it to a gentle boil and cook until the peas are fully cooked and falling apart. About 1 hr and 15 minutes.

Turn the heat to medium, then add the potato and carrots. Bring back to a boil (add more water if it’s too thick). I added 2 more cups of water at this point as when you add the flour dumplings it will further thicken.

As it comes back up to a boil, lets make the dumplings. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt, then add half of the water and make a soft dough. Add more water if needed and if it’s too wet, add a bit more flour. Knead for 3-5 mins, then set aside to rest for 5 minutes. I did place a damp paper towel over it to prevent the dough from forming a skin.

On a flour dusted surface, roll out the dough ball as if you were making a pizza or Sada Roti. I like my dumplings (following how grandma would do it) thin and flat. After the dough is about 1/8 of an inch, use a sharp knife or pizza cutter and cut into 1 inch squares.

Twenty minutes after adding the potato and carrot, add these completed dumplings to the pot, stirring occasionally so they don’t stick together. It will only take about 5 minutes to cook.

Some housekeeping. Pay attention to the thickness of the soup and add more water accordingly, as it will thicken considerably as it cools. Taste for salt and adjust to your liking… I didn’t add any salt to this pot as the remaining salt in the salted pig tail was enough. The scotch bonnet pepper we used can be spicy so be mindful of that and if you don’t have scotch bonnet or prefer something like a Habanero or Jalapeno.. rock that! Remember to wash your hands with soap and water after handling hot peppers.

Toss in the parsley and enjoy

An incredible soup with some basic ingredients. While this is very TASTY, for some reason it could never taste as good as my grandmother’s. Side Note… there were times she would add eddoes and yam to the soup.

Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Meat & Poultry

Caribbean Red Peas Soup.

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Here’s another one of those classic soups you’ll find being made on a Saturday throughout the Caribbean, with each household putting their own personal twist on things.  While it’s loving known as Red Peas Soup, the key ingredient in most cases is usually red beans (Kidney Beans). And though in this recipe I didn’t use any ground provisions (I explain more in the demo video) it’s also customary to add stewing beef and/or smoked meats as well. I went pretty basic to keep it simple for you to duplicate, while giving you maximum flavor and heartiness.

You’ll Need…

2 cups dried red beans (kidney / soaked)
1 large carrot (1/4 inch pieces)
2 scallions (chopped)
4-6 sprigs thyme
1 medium onion (diced)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 bird’s eye pepper (leave whole)
4 cloves garlic (smashed)
6 pimento berries (allspice)
2 lbs of salted pig tails (prepared)
10-12 cups water
4 medium potatoes (1/4)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup water (for dumplings)

Edit: 1 cup coconut milk

 

Note: Optionally you can add stewing beef, yam, sweet potato as well as other ground provisions. If pork is not your thing you can always use smoked meats and/or beef. You’ll then have to add salt though.

Wash and rinse the dried kidney beans.. then cover with water in a deep bowl. Remember as they soak they will expand to at least triple the size they were originally so add a lot of water to the bowl. Soak them overnight or for at least 2 hrs to make the cooking step go quicker. I tossed out the water they were soaked in after it did the job.

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Have your butcher cut the salted pigtail into 2 inch pieces as it will be very difficult to cut with an ordinary kitchen knife. Wash, then place a deep pot with water and bring to a boil. Cook for 20 minutes, then drain + rinse and repeat (boil again in water). The goal is to make the pieces of pig tails tender and to remove most of the salt it was cured in.

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Time to start the soup. Place everything in the pot (except the flour and potato), then cover with water and place on a high flame to bring to a boil. As it comes to a boil, skim off any scum/froth at the top and discard. Reduce the heat to a gentle boil and allow it to cook for 1 hr and 15 mins.. basically until the beans are tender and start falling apart.

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It’s now time to add the potato (and Yams etc if you’re adding it) as well as the coconut milk and continue cooking for 15 minutes.

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Now is a good time to start making the basic dough for the spinner dumplings. Mix the flour and water (add a pinch of salt if you want) until you have a soft/smooth dough. allow it to rest for 5 minutes, then pinch of a tablespoon at a time and roll between your hands to form a cigarette shape.

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Add them to the pot, stir well and continue cooking for another 15 minutes on a rolling boil.

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You’ll notice that I didn’t add any salt to the pot as the remaining salt from the salted pigtails will be enough to properly season this dish. However you can taste and adjust accordingly. Lets recap the timing part of things so you’re not confused. Cook the base of the soup for 1 hr and 15 minute or until tender, then add the potatoes and cook for 15 minutes, then add the dumplings and cook for a further 15 minutes. Keep in mind that this soup will thicken quite a bit as it cools.

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While this is not a traditional recipe to any one specific island, versions of this soup (sometimes called stewed peas) can be found throughout the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa. A hearty bowl of this soup will surely give you the sleepies (some may call it ethnic fatigue). You can certainly freeze the leftovers and heat it up another day.

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Meat & Poultry

Caribbean Black Eyed Peas Soup.

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Take us away from the Caribbean, but you CANNOT take the “Caribbean” from US! Soup and Saturday is like the blue shirt and khaki shorts uniform you’d see next generation island boys smartly dressed in as they make their way to school. You expect to see it, without question. In my time on the islands anyway! We love making a massive (no matter how hard you try, the pot never seems big enough) pot of soup, rich and thick with wonderful flavors and textures. Guaranteed to be found on a Saturday bubbling away in homes across the region. Here’s one such soup..

You’ll Need…

1-2 lbs salted pigtails
1 cup dried black eyed peas
7-9 cups water (for the soup)
1 can coconut milk (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 carrot
2 scallions
1 scotch bonnet pepper
2-3 cups diced pumpkin
12 okra
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 allspice berries
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon veg oil
2 tablespoon chopped parsley
4 sprigs thyme
1/2 lime for washing pig tail

Flour Dumplings
1 cup all purpose flour
pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup water

* Please ask your butcher to cut the pigtails for you (make sure it’s salt cured pigtails and not fresh) as the bones can cause some damage to your regular kitchen knife.

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Place the salted pig tails (cut into 1-2 inch pieces) in water and the lime juice, wash well and remove any tiny hairs (if there’s any). Then place in a deep pan with about 5 cups of water (not mentioned in the recipe ingredient list) and boil for about 30-40 minutes. This will remove most of the salt and help to tenderize the pieces of meat (which can be tough). Click Here to watch a video on how to prepare the salted pigtails.

blackeye peas soup (3)

Soak your dried black eye peas in water overnight or at least 2 hours to help speed up the cooking time. If you want you can use canned black eye peas and cut the cooking time by half. Then in your soup pot heat the veg oil on a medium flame and go in with the thyme, scallions, onion, garlic, allspice berries, black pepper and parsley. Lower the heat to low and cook gently for 3-5 minutes.

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Drain and add the boiled pieces of pigtails to the pot and stir well. NOTE: the residual salt from the pigtails will be enough to season this dish (my liking but do taste near the end and adjust accordingly).

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Now turn up the heat and add all the other ingredients (except the stuff for making the flour dumplings) and bring to a boil. DO NOT cut the scotch bonnet pepper as we’ll just float it in the soup to get flavor and not the raw heat. So please be gentle when stirring the pot. Unless you want that KICK.. break that Caribbean sunshine open!

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Be sure to remove the tips and stems from the okra.

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When it comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let it go for about 1 hr and 40 mins. Then make the flour dumplings (watch the video below to see how I did it).. basically mix the ingredients together with a fork, then form into a dough ball with your hands – rest for 5 minutes (cover with plastic wrap), now form little cigar shape dumplings..called spinners. Add them to the pot and cook another 5-10 minutes. Do test the peas to make sure they are tender before adding the dumplings, so you can cook it a bit longer if necessary. Add more water if you find the soup is too thick… since it will thicken more as the soup cools.

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You can also add sweet potatoes, green bananas, yams, dasheen, cassava etc to this for even more goodness.. I kept it simple by using what I had on hand. Remember to remove the scotch bonnet pepper and if you want you can squeeze in a tiny bit of lime juice at the end for a little brightness (optional).

I'm Chris

Welcome to my kitchen, where Caribbean flavor takes center stage. Since 2009, I've been sharing recipes, stories, and memories that celebrate the food I grew up with and the people who taught me how to cook.

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