Ingredients
Base
- 250 gyellow split peas, rinsed
- 1.5 litreswater or vegetable stock
- 1onion, chopped
- 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
- 2 sprigsthyme
- 1 tspturmeric
Vegetables
- 4corn cobs, cut into 3 cm rounds
- 2carrots, diced
- 2potatoes, diced
- 2 tbspgreen seasoning
- 1 tspground geera
- 1whole pimento pepper
- 1whole scotch bonnet
Dumplings
- 200 gplain flour
- ½ tspsalt
- water
To finish
- 400 mlcoconut milk
- salt
To serve
- hot sauce
- lime wedges
Directions
- Rinse the split peas and boil them in the water with the onion, garlic, thyme and turmeric for 40 minutes, until they have collapsed completely.
- The peas are the body of this soup and they must break down entirely. Any that stay whole leave it grainy rather than velvety.
- Whisk or briefly blend part of the soup smooth, leaving some texture rather than reducing it to a purée.
- Add the corn rounds, carrot, potato, green seasoning and geera and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Make the dumplings by mixing the flour and salt with just enough water for a firm dough, then rolling small pieces between your palms into short spindles.
- Drop the dumplings in and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the coconut milk and drop in the whole scotch bonnet and pimento pepper.
- Do not break the scotch bonnet. Whole it perfumes the pot; broken, it makes the soup unservable to half the people at the table.
- Simmer for 10 minutes more without letting it boil hard, which would split the coconut milk.
- Fish out the peppers, taste and season.
- Serve in cups with the corn rounds sticking out of the top, which is how it is sold from night stands and after Carnival fetes.
Technique
- It is eaten from a cup with the fingers as much as with a spoon, which is why the corn is cut into short rounds.
- Green seasoning is the Trinidadian herb blend of chadon beni, thyme, garlic and onion. A jar of it lives in most fridges there.
- It thickens overnight into something closer to a stew and is very good that way.
Substitutions
- Chadon beni is culantro; flat-leaf coriander plus a little more garlic is the nearest substitute.
- Red lentils in place of split peas, cooking in half the time.
Variations
- With pig tail or salt beef simmered in from the start, which is common and not vegetarian.
- Without dumplings, for a lighter cup.
- Blended completely smooth, which some stands do.
History
Split pea and corn soup with dumplings, sold from night stands and after Carnival fetes as street food.
Frequently asked questions
What is Corn soup?
Corn soup is a soup & stew from Trinidad and Tobago: split-pea and corn-cob soup, late-night street staple. Split pea and corn soup with dumplings, sold from night stands and after Carnival fetes as street food.
How long does Corn soup take to make?
Corn soup takes 20 min of preparation and 1 hr 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Corn soup?
Yes, within limits. Chadon beni is culantro; flat-leaf coriander plus a little more garlic is the nearest substitute. Red lentils in place of split peas, cooking in half the time.
What is the most important thing to get right in Corn soup?
The peas are the body of this soup and they must break down entirely. Any that stay whole leave it grainy rather than velvety.
