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Cuchuco de trigo
Cracked wheat and pork rib soup
Cuchuco de trigo: Boyacá's thick cracked-wheat soup with pork ribs, broad beans, peas and potatoes
Up on the cold Boyacá plateau, around Tunja and Duitama, cuchuco de trigo is the soup that roadside restaurants ladle out at midday to farm workers and truck drivers. It is made with pork ribs (espinazo or costilla de cerdo), simmered until the meat slips off the bone, then thickened with cracked wheat, broad beans, peas, cabbage and two kinds of potato. The result is closer to a porridge-soup than a broth: nutty from the wheat, porky, a little smoky from the cumin and achiote, with the small yellow potatoes melting into the liquid. Serve it in deep bowls with avocado slices, a spoon of ají and a piece of arepa. The usual mistake is adding the wheat too early and walking away: it settles and catches on the bottom of the pot, so it needs stirring from the base every few minutes. Chef's tip: rinse the cracked wheat until the water runs nearly clear; washing off the loose flour keeps the soup creamy rather than gluey. For a meat-free pot, leave out the ribs, use vegetable stock and double the broad beans.
- Total time
- 125 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the broth
- 1 ¾ lb pork ribscut between the bones into 5 cm pieces
- 12 ½ cups water
- 6 spring onions3 left whole and tied, 3 finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves2 crushed whole, 2 finely chopped
For the soup
- 9 oz cracked wheatcoarse bulgur or trigo partido
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground achiote (annatto)or 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 ⅛ lb potatoesfloury, peeled, cut into 3 cm chunks
- 9 oz papa criollasmall yellow Andean potatoes, scrubbed; or small waxy yellow potatoes
- 7 oz broad beansfresh or frozen, skinned
- 5 ½ oz green peasfresh or frozen
- 7 oz white cabbagefinely shredded
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
To serve
- ½ oz fresh coriander (optional)chopped
- 1 avocado (optional)sliced
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Rinse 9 oz cracked wheat in a sieve under cold running water, rubbing it with your fingers, until the water runs almost clear. Cover with fresh cold water and leave to soak while the broth cooks.
5 minStep 2: Put 1 ¾ lb pork ribs, 12 ½ cups water, the whole tied 3 spring onions and the crushed 2 garlic cloves in a large heavy pot. Bring to the boil over a high heat and skim off the grey foam for about 5 minutes, until the surface stays clear.
15 minStep 3: Turn the heat down to low, half-cover and simmer for 45 minutes, until the rib meat is tender when pierced with a knife.
45 minStep 4: Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp sunflower oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the chopped 3 spring onions and chopped 2 garlic cloves with 1 tsp ground cumin and 1 tsp ground achiote (annatto) for 5 minutes, until soft and deep orange.
5 minStep 5: Lift the tied onions and garlic out of the pot and discard them. Drain the wheat and stir it into the broth with the fried onion mixture. Simmer for 20 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot every few minutes, until the grains swell and the soup starts to thicken.
20 minStep 6: Add 1 ⅛ lb potatoes and 7 oz broad beans and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the potatoes are nearly tender.
15 minStep 7: Add 9 oz papa criolla, 5 ½ oz green peas, 7 oz white cabbage, 2 tsp salt and ½ tsp ground black pepper. Simmer for 15 more minutes, until the little yellow potatoes start to fall apart and the rib meat pulls cleanly from the bone; it will be far past 160°F by now. Add a splash of hot water if the soup is thicker than porridge.
15 minStep 8: Taste for salt, then ladle into deep bowls with a rib or two in each and finish with ½ oz fresh coriander and 1 avocado.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 28 g
- Carbs
- 56 g
- Fat
- 20 g
- Fibre
- 10 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cuchuco de trigo take?
- About 125 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 100 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of spring onions?
- Chives, or a little finely sliced onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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