"Banana" Soup

prep time:: 30 mins
cook time:: 2 hours 30 minutes
total time:: 3 hours

Makes 10 -12 servings

This soup, despite its name, does not actually have any banana in it. “Banana Soup” is what a friend of mine began calling it after I made it for him and his family on one occasion; due to the plantains in it. It is actually a family recipe I stumbled upon through marriage; a Nicaraguan-style chicken soup. A wonderful meal for a large group of people, it is also the best chicken soup I have tasted and I have to thank my mother-in-law for that.

ingredients

Ingredients:
2 onions, quartered
1 bell pepper, cored and quartered
5 celery stalks, quartered
5 carrots, quartered
3 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
cilantro and mint stems
10 chicken drumsticks
7 quarts water
2 seville oranges, cut in quarters and seeded
8 chicken bouillon cubes
5 small red potatoes, diced
2 stalks malanga, diced
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
5 stalks yucca root, diced
4 ears corn, cut in halves
3 ripe plantains, peeled and quartered
2 tomatoes, chopped

directions

1
Directions:
2
1. Place a 12 quart pot over medium heat, add oil to the pan and then add the quartered onion, bell pepper, celery, and carrots. Allow the vegetables to sweat, stirring occasionally, until the onions have softened.
3
2. Next add about 1/4 cup each of the cilantro and the mint leaves. Add the stems of the cilantro and mint as well as the crushed garlic and the chicken. Allow these to cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes longer. Then add the water and bring to a simmer.
4
3. Once simmering, squeeze the juice from one of the oranges into the stock, cover and allow it to simmer for about 30 minutes. Fish the chicken out of the pot, remove and set aside their meat, and add the bones back in.
5
4. Let the stock simmer for an hour and a half more and then strain the stock into another pot, discarding the vegetables and bones.
6
5. Bring the stock back to a gentle simmer and then add the bouillon cubes, potato, and malanga. Cover and allow to cook for about fifteen minutes. Next add the chopped onion and pepper as well as the minced garlic, yucca, plantains, corn, and tomatoes. Add another 1/4 cup each of the cilantro and mint leaves and juice the last orange into the pot too. Cover and simmer for ten minutes longer, or until all the roots and plantains are cooked through.
7
6. Now add the reserved meat and the rest of the cilantro and mint leaves and allow to cook just a few minutes longer as you season the soup to taste with salt (if even needed). Remove from the heat and serve hot.

notes

This recipe is best when fresh ingredients are used, especially cilantro. Don’t even bother with the recipe if you don’t have fresh cilantro. You can use grapefruit or limes instead of the oranges, but just use one.

Source: Samuel Cornwell