Did I ever tell you what an amazing cook my father is? No? Well let me tell you, he is an EXCELLENT cook. He really knows his flavors and has a very well developed palate. He loves to experiment in the kitchen and is very meticulous and careful when he combines different flavors. Its like he can taste a dish in his head before he actually cooks it and knows the exact ingredients to include so that it all comes together just the way he imagined. I have never tasted a dish my father made that I did not like.
Although my mother cooked our day-to-day meals growing up, my dad would always cook something special and different on Sunday afternoons. He loves trying different cuisines and experimenting in the kitchen, but there are a few of his signature dishes that would always suffice on Sundays if he didn't know what to make, one of those dishes was his chicken soup. This soup is a classic in Caribbean cuisine and has variations based on country. Root vegetables are mostly used with the addition of fish or meats. My favorite is the cassava and plantains.
This was no ordinary chicken soup you know, this was a flavorful, good-for-you soup with lots of healthy vegetables and spices. The broth was always so deliciously spicy, it made your eyes water and nose run, but you just kept eating it because it tasted so damn good.
My dad makes his base from pumpkin and a little bit of split peas which gives it a different flavor, but still one that is very tasty. The pumpkin will melt throughout the cooking process and give the soup a nice flavor.
Dad’s Sunday Afternoon (Guyanese) Chicken Soup
Ingredients
For Soup
- 3 large chicken bouillon cubes (if you have small ones, use 6 cubes)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1 onion
- 1 gallon of water (16 cups)
- ¼ cup yellow split peas (not pictured)
- 2 skinny cassava chopped into 2 inch pieces (I say skinny b/c the thicker ones are just harder to peel)
- 4-5 edoes chopped in half or quarters if you bought large ones (4-5 is about ½ lb)
- ½ lb pumpkin chopped into 4 in pieces
- 2 cups chopped fresh spinach (1 cup if using frozen spinach)
- 1 green plantain chopped in 1 ½ inch pieces
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 red scotch bonnet peppers or 3 wiri wiri peppers
For Chicken
- 2 lbs chicken cleaned and chopped in medium size pieces
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon casareep or browning sauce
For Dumpling
- ¾ cup flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1tbsp butter, (not pictured)
- ¼ cup whole milk
Instructions
- Clean, chop, and season the chicken, set aside
- Pour 16 cups of water into a large deep pot and bring to a boil.
- After peeling, wash cassava, edoes, and plantain, set aside.
- Rinse and chop spinach, pumpkin, onion garlic and scotch bonnet then put into boiling water with ¼ cup washed split peas. Cover with lid, reduce heat to medium, and continue to boil for 40 minutes.
- Use pot spoon to mash the pumpkin on the side of the pot to see if it is soft. The peas should also be soft, if it is not, continue to boil until it is almost disappearing into the soup.
- Once peas are soft add the plantains, cassava, and edoes along with 3 bouillon cubes, and bay leaves.
- If you feel this needs more water you can add another 2 cups at this point.
- Turn the heat to low-medium and let the vegetables cook for another 20 minutes until they are medium-soft.
- While the vegetables are cooking, make the dough for the dumpling (it will be a stiff dough which is okay.
- Cook the chicken in a separate pan in 1 tablespoon of oil. Saute until the chicken is cooked and browned.
- Once the edoes, cassava, and plantains are cooked through, add the chicken to the soup. Let the flavors simmer together on low heat for 15 minutes. Give it a good stir.
- Break small pieces of dumpling dough and drop it into the soup. The dumplings will cook in approximately 5 minutes. Stir the soup as your drop the dumplings in.
- Let it simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
guavapineapple says
This looks amazing. I can't wait to try it.
Julia Walker-Thompson says
Great pictures side by side presentation very imaginative
Ms. Gourmet Express says
Thanks! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Anonymous says
love your cooking skills and the pictures is amazing,keep up the good work.
Ms. Gourmet Express says
Thanks Anonymous and thank your for visiting!
JehanP says
Yum!!!!!! I would love a bowl of this soup, looks so flavorful.
jamjam says
the picture that u have looks good but when i try,it have pumpkin strings an that spoil the soup an i did everything exactly like u said.something not right
Alica says
So sorry that your soup got spoiled because of the strings. You could've let the pumpkin boil a bit more also it depends on the type of pumpkin you buy. You have to make sure to scrape out as much of the inside of the pumpkin as possible, sometimes it can be a little grainy. Maybe next time? Thanks for visiting!
Anonymous says
This recipe is awesome. I was sick and craving this soup today and it was exactly as I remember it growing up. Delish! Thank you so much for sharing. The pics and descriptive ingredients list are a huge help!!!!
Anonymous says
Can you do this 'chicken' soup with beef instead?
Alica says
Hi Anonymous,
You can certainly include Beef if you like as well as any fish, you will just have to cook the fish separately of course and add it when this soup is actually done since fish tends to tear apart in soup the long it is boiled. Thanks for visiting!
Anonymous says
I loved this soup growing up, mom made it every time we were sick, thanks for the recipe!
Abby says
Yummy! I will trying making the vegetarian version of this....thank you!
Abby
Anonymous says
I must have ochroe (okra) when making soup.
For this version add to step 4.
I also prefer ripe plantains.
But that is me.
Zahn Yisrael says
this looks marvelous - will try this week. I visited Guyana a couple of years ago adn tasted a soup there that was soooo good - hope this tastes wpmderfi; also. thanks for sharing
Andy N says
Made this a couple days ago! Came out excellent! I added some barley as I love barley in soup. Thanks for recipe.
Shindy Johnson says
The way you show the pictures is genius. Looks so appetizing!
Unknown says
I just made this soup. It was amazing. Thanks for the recipe. I can't wait to try your other recipes. The best part is that it's simple 🙂
shiva65 says
Will have to try this recipe but would add the barley and maybe a handful of blk eye peas (my fav).
Melisa Muringen says
Just made your soup. Delicious !!!!
Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Can't wait to try another recipe of yours.
Dee says
What parts of the chicken do you use and cut up? Thigh?
Alica says
You can use any part you like, but I prefer legs and thighs.
Ash says
Can I use butternut squash instead of pumpkin. It’s cold today and I’m craving this soup!
Alica says
Yes! You can for sure use butternut squash. Add or leave out anything you like ?.