We love Costa Rica, and nothing beats a hot bowl of soup on a rainy Costa Rican night. Chances are, if you stay with a Costa Rican host family during your 4-week TEFL course in Costa Rica, you'll get to try both of these recipes. Check out the recipes and make these soups on your own!
1 lb uncooked black beans
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
½ teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
salt and black pepper to taste
6 eggs (uncooked)
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small red pepper, finely chopped
Cover the uncooked beans with water and soak overnight. Drain the beans and add chicken broth, water, salt, and half of the chopped ingredients. Bring this mixture to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low to simmer until beans are nearly soft . This usually takes 2-2½ hours. Add the rest of the chopped ingredients and vegetable oil, and cook for an additional 30 minutes. The beans will finish cooking during this time. For the final 3-4 minutes, add the eggs. Remove the cooked eggs and peel the shell. At this point, about half of the beans are typically removed and reserved for another recipe. Serve each bowl of soup with one of the cooked eggs. Sopa negra is normally accompanied by warm tortillas and side of rice and is a comforting dinner, especially during rainy season!
Pejibayes (peach palm fruit) are a small, orange-red fruit that is native of the tropics. The fruit is always cooked before eating and has a taste that is hard to describe: nutty, with a hint of sweet potato or even squash-like flavors. Costa Ricans love a simple side of boiled or roasted pejibayes topped with a bit of mayonnaise. There is even a Pejibaye Festival every October in Tucurrique de Cartago, where you can find everything from pejibaye ice cream to pejibaye liquor! One of our favorite ways to eat pejibayes at home is in a creamy soup.
10 Pejibayes (cooked, peeled, pitted and chopped)
4 Cups of Chicken Broth
1/4 Cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 large red pepper, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot on the stovetop, melt the butter and sauté the celery, red pepper, garlic and onions until they begin to caramelize. Add the chicken broth and bring this to a boil. Add the chopped pejibayes to the liquid and turn down the heat to simmer for about ten minutes or until the pejibayes are tender. You can buy fresh pejibayes in nearly every market, but you can also find them cooked in many supermarkets and even in roadside stands. Blend the contents of the pot until they are smooth in texture, using an immersion blender or a normal stand blender. If you'd like the soup thinner, you can add a bit of heavy cream at this point. Add salt, pepper or chopped cilantro to taste. Serve this hearty soup hot with croutons or thick, crusty bread!
We will continue to share more traditional Costa Rican recipes with you, and don't forget that we offer cooking classes to our alumni and students in our 4-week TEFL training! If you haven't already saved your seat in our course, contact us today!
Costa Rican Recipes-with plantains
