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Sopa de pata
Sopa de pata: El Salvador's slow-cooked cow's foot and tripe soup
Sunday is sopa de pata day in many Salvadoran towns, and market stalls in San Miguel and Santa Ana sell it from huge pots from early morning. Cow's foot and tripe are simmered for hours until the broth turns rich and sticky with gelatine, then corn, yuca, chayote and green plantain go in, with lime, chilli and tortillas on the side. Ask the butcher to cut the foot into pieces and buy tripe already cleaned and blanched. The big mistake is under-cooking: the tripe must be soft enough to cut with a spoon and the foot falling off the bone. Chef's tip: blanch the foot and tripe for 10 minutes and pour that water away before the long simmer; it gives a clean-tasting broth.
- Total time
- 240 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ lb cow's footcut into pieces by the butcher
- 1 ⅛ lb honeycomb tripecleaned, in 3 cm squares
- 3.5 litres water
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 onionchopped
- 4 cloves garliccrushed
- 2 tomatoeschopped
- 1 green pepperchopped
- 1 tsp achiote (annatto) paste
- 2 corn on the cobeach cut into 3
- 14 oz sweet cassava (yuca)peeled, in chunks
- 1 chayotepeeled, in chunks
- 1 green plantainpeeled, in 3 cm pieces
- ½ oz fresh corianderchopped
- ⅛ oz fresh mintchopped
To serve
- 2 limesin wedges
- 2 fresh chillies (optional)chopped
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Put 2 ¼ lb cow's foot and 1 ⅛ lb honeycomb tripe in a large pot of cold water, bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse the pieces and clean the pot.
15 minStep 2: Return them to the pot with 3.5 litres water, 2 tsp salt, 1 onion, 4 cloves garlic, 2 tomatoes, 1 green pepper and 1 tsp achiote (annatto) paste. Simmer gently, partly covered, skimming now and then, until the tripe is very soft and the foot meat comes away from the bone.
165 minStep 3: Add 2 corn on the cob, 14 oz sweet cassava (yuca) and 1 green plantain and simmer for 20 minutes.
20 minStep 4: Add 1 chayote and cook for 10–15 minutes more until every vegetable is tender. Top up with hot water if the broth gets too thick.
15 minStep 5: Stir in ½ oz fresh coriander and ⅛ oz fresh mint, taste for salt and serve in deep bowls with 2 limes and 2 fresh chillies.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 480 kcal
- Protein
- 38 g
- Carbs
- 45 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does sopa de pata take?
- About 240 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 210 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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