Food is not just nourishment. There’s also an emotional relationship between people and food. And the food we grew up with, no matter how unusual to the rest of the world, always comforts us and brings us memories of happy times long gone.
I grew up with this dish.
Like we have mentioned before, most Dominicans learn how to cook from their relatives. In my case I absorbed a bit from fairly much all of my closest female relatives. This stew was passed on to me by my aunt Flora, at whose house I spent many a day of my childhood, playing with her children, my older cousins.
With its combination of sweet, savory and spicy flavors it is an intriguing dish. But combining sweet and savory in our meals is not unheard of for Dominicans. In fact, it is very common.
From serving our meals with fritos maduros and plátanos al caldero, to adding raisins and fruits to many of our dishes, it seems like our sweet tooth has taken serious possession of our culinary culture. And while there may be a few Dominicans who do not share their fellow countrymen’s enthusiasm for sweet and savory meals, the vast majority seem to regard it as normal.
For the record the stew itself is not sweet, it’s the ripe plantains and sweet potatoes that will give it its sweet touch to contrast with the lightly spicy stew.
I invite you to give it a try. You might be surprised.
Sopión de habichuelas, also known as sancocho de habichuelas, is a delightful, hearty soup that combines spicy and sweet flavors.
Ingredients
- 4 cups of red kidney beans boiled very soft
- 1 lb of boned smoked pork chops, cut into small pieces
- 1 lb of longaniza (spicy pork sausage), cut into slices
- 1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro
- 1 pepper, diced
- 1 cup of tomato sauce (or 1 tablespoon of tomato paste)
- 1 tablespoon of oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of mashed garlic
- 1 pinch of oregano
- 1/2 lb of sweet potatoes
- 2 ripe plantains
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- Pepper
- Salt
Instructions
- In a pot heat the oil over medium heat.
- Add the pork chops and sausage and brown.
- Add garlic, and peppers. Cook and stir for half a minute.
- Add the beans, tomato sauce and a quart of water.
- Add oregano, cilantro, sweet potatoes, sugar and plantains.
- Boil over medium heat until all the ingredients are cooked throughout and the stew reaches a creamy consistency. Adjust water if it becomes necessary.
- Serve with arroz blanco.
Notes
If you bought pork chops with bones, don't throw them away! Add them to the stew and remove when serving, they will extra flavor to it.
Aunt Clara's Kitchen is a collection of traditional Dominican and Dominican-inspired recipes, home ideas, crafts, and the chronicles of Aunt Clara and Aunt Ilana's adventures.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh mine! That looks absolutely delish. I will have to find ripe plantains first, but I will do this ASAP.
As soon as I saw the picture I so desperately wanted to try this and that is exactly what I did this evening. Unfortunately, my plantains weren't ripe yet so I had to skip on them
This stew is absolutely fabulous and made plenty of leftovers so no cooking tomorrow!
Hmm, leftovers… I promise it will taste better the next day.
Thank you for providing this recipe. It looks wonderful – I've wanted to try it for some time now. However, I would like if you could explain some things that I may be misunderstanding about this dish. By "sweet potatoes", are you referring to orange-fleshed American yams, or batata? Also, would it be acceptable to include auyama in the soup? I feel that it could really add to this. Thanks, Aunt Clara.
Never the American "yam"
Use batata. And I am sure a bit of auyama won't hurt either, as a matter of fact auyama is quite sweet, so I am sure it will play well with the other ingredients.
Good luck!