Sopa de pata

Ingredients

Broth

• 1.2 kgcow’s feet (pata), sawn into pieces by the butcher and scrubbed
• 500 ghoneycomb tripe, rinsed and cut into strips
• 2limes, halved
• 2 tbspcoarse salt
• 1onion, halved
• 6garlic cloves
• 4 litrescold water

Relajo

• 4dried guajillo or pasilla chillies, seeded
• 2 tbspwhite sesame seeds
• 2 tbsphulled pumpkin seeds
• 1 tspcumin seeds
• 4allspice berries
• 2bay leaves
• 2ripe tomatoes

Vegetables

• 400 gyuca (cassava), peeled and cut in chunks
• 2chayote (guisquil), peeled and cubed
• 2green plantains, peeled and cut into thick rounds
• 2corn cobs, cut into 4 cm wheels
• 2carrots, in chunks
• ¼white cabbage, in wedges

To serve

• 1small bunch mint or culantro (Eryngium foetidum), chopped
• 2limes, in wedges
• hot corn tortillas

Directions

1. Scrub the feet and tripe with the cut limes and coarse salt, rinse, then blanch 10 minutes in boiling water and rinse again. This is what removes the barnyard smell.
2. Return them to a large pot with the cold water, onion and garlic. Simmer uncovered, skimming the grey foam for the first 20 minutes, for 2 ½ to 3 hours until the feet are gelatinous and the tripe gives to a fingernail.
3. Meanwhile toast the relajo: dry-toast the chillies 30 seconds a side, then the sesame, pumpkin seeds, cumin and allspice separately, each only until fragrant.
4. Blend the toasted spices with the tomatoes and a ladle of broth to a rust-red paste, then push it through a sieve to leave the seed husks behind.
5. Stir the relajo and bay leaves into the pot and simmer 20 minutes; the broth turns brick-coloured and thickens slightly from the collagen.
6. Add the yuca and corn and cook 15 minutes, then the chayote, plantain and carrot for 10 minutes, and the cabbage for the last 5 so it stays green.
7. Taste for salt. The broth is right when it feels faintly sticky on the lips and clings to the back of a spoon.
8. Ladle a piece of pata, some tripe and one of each vegetable into every bowl, shower with mint or culantro, and serve scalding with lime wedges and tortillas.

Technique

• Relajo is the Salvadoran toasted spice bundle sold ready-mixed in every market. Toasting it dry and sieving it is what separates a clear brick-red broth from a muddy one.
• The lip-sticking body comes only from long-simmered feet. Stock cubes cannot fake it, and without it the soup is just vegetable broth.
• This is weekend and hangover food, served in enormous bowls, and the vegetables are cut large on purpose so they survive the pot.

Substitutions

• Cow’s feet can be stretched with oxtail plus a split trotter, but expect a fattier broth with less gelatine.
• If chayote is unavailable, use courgette added in the final 8 minutes only.

Variations

• In Santa Ana the soup is finished with an extra spoonful of the broth’s own fat and a fierce chilli salsa on the side.

History

A hearty soup made from cow’s foot, tripe and vegetables including plantain, corn and yuca, developed in Salvadoran home cooking as a way to use an entire slaughtered animal, including parts like the foot that require extended cooking to become tender but yield a rich, gelatinous broth once properly prepared. Its long list of vegetables added to the soup, giving it a substantial, stew-like quality beyond a simple broth, reflects a practical approach to creating one complete, filling meal from a single pot. Sopa de pata remains a traditional Salvadoran dish, particularly associated with weekend and family gathering meals given the extended cooking time required to properly prepare the cow’s foot at its center.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sopa de pata?

Sopa de pata is a soup & stew from El Salvador: cow-foot soup with tripe, yuca, and vegetables. A hearty soup made from cow’s foot, tripe and vegetables including plantain, corn and yuca, developed in Salvadoran home cooking as a way to use an entire slaughtered animal, including parts like the foot that require extended cooking to become tender but yield a rich, gelatinous broth once properly prepared. Its long list of vegetables added to the soup, giving it a substantial, stew-like quality beyond a simple broth, reflects a practical approach to creating one complete, filling meal from a single pot. Sopa de pata remains a traditional Salvadoran dish, particularly associated with weekend and family gathering meals given the extended cooking time required to properly prepare the cow’s foot at its center.

How long does Sopa de pata take to make?

Sopa de pata takes 30 min of preparation and 3 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Sopa de pata?

Yes, within limits. Cow’s feet can be stretched with oxtail plus a split trotter, but expect a fattier broth with less gelatine. If chayote is unavailable, use courgette added in the final 8 minutes only.