Callaloo soup

Ingredients

Soup

• 600 gyoung dasheen (taro) leaves, thick stalks stripped, leaves finely shredded
• 2 tbspcoconut oil
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 4spring onions (chives), chopped
• 4garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 sprigsfresh thyme
• 200 gsalt pork or pig’s tail, soaked overnight and cut into pieces
• 150 gokra, sliced into rounds
• 1green plantain, peeled and cut into 3 cm chunks
• 400 mlcoconut milk
• 1.2 Lwater
• 1whole Scotch bonnet pepper, left absolutely intact
• 1 tspground allspice
• black pepper and salt

To finish

• 250 gwhite crab meat, picked over
• juice of half a lime
• 2 tbspchopped parsley

Directions

1. Strip the leaves off the dasheen stalks and shred them finely. Wear gloves: raw dasheen leaf contains calcium oxalate crystals that sting the skin and the throat.
2. Simmer the soaked salt pork in the 1.2 L of water for 25 minutes, skimming, to draw out the salt and build a savoury base.
3. Fry the onion, spring onion, garlic and thyme in coconut oil in a heavy pot over medium heat for 6 minutes until soft and fragrant.
4. Add the shredded leaves in handfuls, letting each batch wilt down before adding more, then pour in the pork and its liquid, the okra, plantain and allspice.
5. Float the whole Scotch bonnet on top. Do not pierce or stir it aggressively; you want its perfume, not its full heat, and a burst pepper makes the pot inedible.
6. Simmer uncovered for 40–45 minutes, until the leaves have collapsed completely into a dark green sludge and the plantain is soft. Cooking this long is a food-safety requirement, not a preference: it breaks down the oxalates.
7. Lift out the Scotch bonnet and the thyme stalks. Swizzle the soup with a wooden swizzle stick (a bwa lele) spun between your palms until it is velvety, or blitz briefly with a stick blender.
8. Pour in the coconut milk, return the pork pieces, fold in the crab meat and warm through for 5 minutes without boiling. Finish with lime juice and parsley, and check the salt at the end, since the pork has already salted the pot.

Technique

• Callaloo in Dominica means dasheen leaf, not the amaranth used in Jamaica. If the leaves are undercooked the soup will make your throat itch, which is why forty minutes is the minimum.
• The okra is the thickener and the swizzle stick is the texture. Whizzing it smooth in a blender makes it slick and gluey; the swizzle leaves a slight fibrous body.
• Never split the Scotch bonnet. Dominican cooks fish it out whole at the end and often serve it on the side for anyone who wants it crushed into their own bowl.

Substitutions

• No dasheen leaves: use 600 g fresh spinach plus 200 g Swiss chard, and cut the simmering to 20 minutes since there are no oxalates to break down.
• No crab: smoked fish or a few prawns folded in at the end works, or leave the seafood out and lean on the salt pork.

Variations

• Callaloo with a whole blue land crab, cracked and simmered in the pot, at Independence celebrations.
• A meat-free Lenten version made with coconut milk, okra and dumplings only.

History

Dasheen leaves cooked with coconut milk, crab or salt meat, a Creole soup of the Windward Islands with West African roots.

Frequently asked questions

What is Callaloo soup?

Callaloo soup is a soup & stew from Dominica: creamy dasheen-leaf soup, often with crab. Dasheen leaves cooked with coconut milk, crab or salt meat, a Creole soup of the Windward Islands with West African roots.

How long does Callaloo soup take to make?

Callaloo soup takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Callaloo soup?

Yes, within limits. No dasheen leaves: use 600 g fresh spinach plus 200 g Swiss chard, and cut the simmering to 20 minutes since there are no oxalates to break down. No crab: smoked fish or a few prawns folded in at the end works, or leave the seafood out and lean on the salt pork.

What is the most important thing to get right in Callaloo soup?

Float the whole Scotch bonnet on top. Do not pierce or stir it aggressively; you want its perfume, not its full heat, and a burst pepper makes the pot inedible.