Sopa de Patacón (Colombian Fried Plantain Soup)
Fried green plantains dropped into a broth of onion, bell pepper, garlic and cumin with potato, where they soften without falling apart. Thirty-five minutes, five servings, and it is the best thing to do with patacones left over from another meal.
Servings: 5
Calories: 621kcal
Ingredients
- 8 cups beef broth or water
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ½ cup onion chopped
- ½ cup red bell pepper pimentón: the fresh vegetable, not paprika powder
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ lb potatoes diced or sliced
- 12 fried green plantains patacones, see the recipe
- Cilantro chopped
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, the finely chopped garlic, the red bell pepper cut into small squares and the cumin, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often.
- Pour in the beef broth or water along with the potatoes and bring it to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes more.
- Add the fried green plantains and let them simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring carefully so they do not break up. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir in the chopped cilantro, taste and adjust the salt, and serve immediately.
Notes
The plantains go in last and only for ten minutes. Longer and they stop being patacones and turn into a thickener: they break down, the soup goes cloudy and the pieces disappear. Stir gently for the same reason. This is a soup that changes as it sits, because the plantain keeps drinking broth even off the heat, so it is thinner the moment it is served and considerably thicker an hour later. Add more broth when reheating. Patacones fried the day before work perfectly here and are in fact the usual reason to make this, since they go hard once they cool and this is what rescues them.
Nutrition
Calories: 621kcal | Carbohydrates: 148g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1191mg | Potassium: 3166mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 66g | Vitamin A: 5313IU | Vitamin C: 109mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 3mg