Ingredients
Beans
- 500 gdried red kidney beans
Meat
- 500 gsalted pig’s tail, or salt beef
- 300 gstewing beef, cubed
- 1smoked ham hock, optional
Pot
- 3 litreswater
- 1onion, chopped
- 6spring onions
- 6 clovesgarlic
- 6 sprigsthyme
- 1 tbspallspice berries, pimento
- 1whole scotch bonnet pepper
Vegetables
- 500 gyellow yam, diced
- 3green bananas
- 300 gcoco or dasheen
- 2carrots
Spinners
- 200 gplain flour
- ½ tspsalt
- water
To finish
- 150 mlcoconut milk
- salt and black pepper
Directions
- Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water. Now the salted meat, which needs its own preparation. Soak the salted pig’s tail in cold water for several hours, changing the water twice, then boil it for 10 minutes and discard that water.
- Taste a small piece after boiling to judge whether it needs more soaking. Drain the beans, throw the soaking water away, and put them in the pot with fresh water. Bring to a rolling boil and boil hard, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Now add the prepared pig’s tail, the beef and the ham hock and simmer for about an hour and a half.
- Skim the surface in the first twenty minutes. Cook the beans until they are completely soft and beginning to break down. Crush a ladleful of the beans against the side of the pot and stir them back in. Add the onion, spring onions, garlic, thyme and allspice berries.
- Keep it whole and lift it out before it splits, so the soup takes its perfume without the full heat. Add the yam, green bananas, coco and carrots and cook 30 minutes more.
- Peel the green bananas under running water or with oiled hands, because their sap is sticky and stains black. Now make the spinners: mix the flour and salt with enough water for a stiff dough, then roll small pieces between your palms into thin tapered rolls.
- Roll them thin and long rather than round, which is what makes a spinner rather than a dumpling. Drop them into the simmering soup for the last 15 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk at the end and warm it through without boiling hard. Coconut milk goes in late, because a long hard boil splits it and leaves an oily film.
- Season with salt and plenty of black pepper, tasting first, because the salted meat brings a great deal. The soup should be thick enough to coat a spoon, with the beans partly broken down. Serve it hot in deep bowls, with all the vegetables and dumplings shared out.
Technique
- Tinned kidney beans are already fully cooked and remove the safety concern entirely.
- Salt beef, pig’s tail and ham hock are used in any combination.
- Vegetarian versions with coconut milk and no meat are common.
Substitutions
- Two tins of kidney beans, added later in the cooking.
- Smoked bacon or a ham hock in place of pig’s tail.
Variations
- Made vegetarian, with more coconut milk.
- With pumpkin added for body.
- With more coconut milk, as a richer soup.
History
Kidney bean soup with salted pig’s tail, yam and spinner dumplings, cooked as a Saturday meal in Jamaican homes.
Frequently asked questions
What is Red peas soup?
Red peas soup is a soup & stew from Jamaica: kidney bean soup with pig tail and spinner dumplings. Kidney bean soup with salted pig’s tail, yam and spinner dumplings, cooked as a Saturday meal in Jamaican homes.
How long does Red peas soup take to make?
Red peas soup takes 20 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Red peas soup?
Yes, within limits. Two tins of kidney beans, added later in the cooking. Smoked bacon or a ham hock in place of pig’s tail.
What is the most important thing to get right in Red peas soup?
Roll them thin and long rather than round, which is what makes a spinner rather than a dumpling. Drop them into the simmering soup for the last 15 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk at the end and warm it through without boiling hard. Coconut milk goes in late, because a long hard boil splits it and leaves an oily film.
