Gungo Peas Soup

Photo by Carlington Wilmot

Issue 2, November 2015

The recipe is vegetarian. Scroll down for information on adding meat.

• 1 lb. dried gungo peas soaked overnight in cold water (or canned peas)
• 16 cups vegetable stock
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 cho cho (chayote or christophene), peeled and diced
• 1 small dasheen/tarot peeled and diced (or yellow yam)
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• Flour to make spinners*
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 green scallions, chopped
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 Scotch bonnet pepper
• 4 ozs. coconut milk
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Direction

1. Combine gungo peas with vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
2. Cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until peas are tender and begin to split open.
3. Add sweet potato, carrots, cho cho, dasheen, onion, thyme and Scotch bonnet.
4. Allow to boil then reduce to a simmer. Add the coconut milk, spinners, salt and pepper.
5. Simmer for 45 mins. to an hour, stirring as the food cooks and the soup gets thicker.

* Note: Add spinners (cigar-shaped flour dumplings). Mix flour (about a cup), pinch of salt with water to form a dough. Pinch pieces of the dough and roll into spinners.

Note: Make it MEATY by adding chopped pig’s tail and/or stew beef cut into cubes. Total of 1 1/2 lbs. of meat. Soak salted pigtail in cold water to get rid of excess salt (preferably overnight).

Serves 4

-By JamaicanEats magazine

We Want Your Snaps Cooking, Eating, Enjoying Caribbean. Email: caribbeanfoodguide@gmail.com