Growing up, my sister and I enjoyed this simple puree my grandmother used to make. It was, and still is, part of our Cuban comfort food. This soup was never found on a Cuban restaurant menu, only at my grandmother’s home. She would make it when one of us were sick and she made it when my sister was pregnant for the first time and craving it.
After my grandmother passed away, I thought the recipe was lost. My grandmother never wrote down recipes and often joked that the puree was her own secret recipe. I can only tell you that it’s been years and years now since I had it and I longed for it. Luckily enough, my aunt was able to hunt down the recipe and after a few years of hounding her, she gave it to me a few days ago while I was in Miami for my birthday. It was the best birthday present I could get.
I came home and immediately started searching out the ingredients. I felt like this would be a difficult task because the ingredients are very “Cuban” and being so far from Miami and all things Cuban might lessen the chances of finding the ingredients.
The puree is time consuming…more than I could have ever imagined, but the outcome is simply amazing. If you have 3 hours to spare, make this.
I have added photos of the ingredients to make finding these root vegetables a little easier when you visit the produce aisle.
What you will need:
- 8 cups of water
- 1 lb flank steak
- 1 “big” yellow onion
- 1/2 “big” green bell pepper
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 garlic cloves
Boil the stock for approximately 45 minutes and add the vegetables:
The Vegetables you will need are:
- 2 Green Plantains (cut them in half and keep the skin on, it will come off after boiling)
- 2 Yucas (the long waxy brown tubers in the photo)
- 2 Malangas (I found this in the produce aisle as Taro Root–They are pear shaped)
- 2 Ears of Corn (fresh is best…they are used for flavor)
- 1/4 pumpkin (I used a whole bag of frozen butternut squash)
- 1 Yam or in Spanish it is called Ñame
Boil until the vegetables are done (tender). This took me about 20 minutes on high. Take the onion, meat and corn cobs out and put aside. I usually save the corn to eat along with the soup as a side dish. For me, the onion fell apart so don’t worry if you’re unable to take all of the onion out. Puree the rest of the ingredients in a blender and add the stock little by little.
The recipe originally said that it was for two, but I would think this is actually for four persons.
Lastly, I just wanted to add that long are the days of spending all day cooking and this dish proves it. It was definitely time consuming, especially the prep of having to peel the yuca and malanga, but the end result was so worth it. When I was transferring the puree to the bowl, I risked my tongue from getting burnt by licking the puree from the spoon….That’s how good it was!
I hope my grandmother would have approved of my version of her soup!
Filed under: Blogroll, Cooking, Cuban cooking, Food, Recipes, boiled, corn, leftovers, soup, yuca
