Ingredients
Cachupa (make the day before)
- 400 gdried milho (hominy/samp corn), soaked overnight
- 250 gdried beans (feijão pedra or congo), soaked overnight
- 300 gpork belly or smoked pork rib, in chunks
- 150 glinguiça or chouriço, sliced
- 1onion, chopped
- 3garlic cloves, crushed
- 300 gsweet potato and cassava, in 3 cm chunks
- 200 gpumpkin, in chunks
- 2 tbsppalm or vegetable oil
- 1bay leaf, 1 tsp sweet paprika, salt
Refogado
- 3 tbspvegetable oil or lard
- 2onions, sliced into half-moons
- 3garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 tspsweet paprika
To serve
- 4eggs
- 1fresh malagueta chilli, chopped
- Strong coffee or grogue
Directions
- Drain the soaked corn and beans, cover with fresh water in a large pot and boil hard for 10 minutes, then simmer covered for 2 hours until the corn splits open and is chewy-tender; top up with hot water as needed.
- Add the pork, sausage, onion, garlic, bay and paprika and simmer 45 minutes, then add the root vegetables and pumpkin and cook 30 minutes more until the pumpkin collapses and thickens the pot. Season, cool and refrigerate overnight; cachupa must sit.
- Next morning, heat the oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat and fry the sliced onions with the garlic for 8–10 minutes until soft, sweet and just golden at the edges.
- Stir in the paprika for 20 seconds, then tip in 4 generous ladles of cold cachupa, breaking up any large chunks with a wooden spoon.
- Press the mixture into an even layer and leave it undisturbed over medium heat for 5–6 minutes so a crust forms underneath; you should hear it crackle and smell toasted corn.
- Fold the crust through, press flat again and repeat once or twice until the cachupa is hot through, glossy with oil and studded with brown crisp bits. Taste and salt.
- In a second pan, fry the eggs in hot oil until the whites are set and lacy-brown at the rim but the yolks stay liquid.
- Spoon the cachupa refogada onto warm plates, slide an egg on top of each, scatter chopped chilli and serve with coffee.
Technique
- Cachupa refogada is deliberately a leftover dish: fresh cachupa is too wet to crisp. Chilling firms the starch so the corn takes a crust instead of turning to mush.
- Do not stir constantly. The whole point is the golden crust on the base of the pan, folded back through so every spoonful has soft and crunchy in it.
- Cachupa rica (with meats) versus cachupa pobre (vegetables only) is a class distinction islanders take seriously; both refry well.
Substitutions
- No milho? Use tinned white hominy or samp, drained, and cut the first simmer to 40 minutes.
- Linguiça can be replaced with a coarse smoked paprika sausage; avoid sweet Spanish chorizo, which is too sugary.
Variations
- Santiago style tops the refogado with fried linguiça slices rather than an egg.
- São Vicente cooks often finish with a spoonful of the pot broth to keep it moist and serve with buttered rolls.
History
The morning-after form of Cape Verde’s national dish, crisped in a pan and eaten before work with strong coffee.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cachupa refogada?
Cachupa refogada is a breakfast from Cape Verde: yesterday’s cachupa fried with onion and topped with a fried egg or sausage. The morning-after form of Cape Verde’s national dish, crisped in a pan and eaten before work with strong coffee.
How long does Cachupa refogada take to make?
Cachupa refogada takes 25 min of preparation and 3 hr (cachupa, made the day before) plus 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Cachupa refogada?
Yes, within limits. No milho? Use tinned white hominy or samp, drained, and cut the first simmer to 40 minutes. Linguiça can be replaced with a coarse smoked paprika sausage; avoid sweet Spanish chorizo, which is too sugary.
What is the most important thing to get right in Cachupa refogada?
Add the pork, sausage, onion, garlic, bay and paprika and simmer 45 minutes, then add the root vegetables and pumpkin and cook 30 minutes more until the pumpkin collapses and thickens the pot. Season, cool and refrigerate overnight; cachupa must sit.
