Soyo

Ingredients

Meat

• 700 glean beef, from the leg or shoulder

Base

• 2onions, chopped
• 1red pepper
• 4tomatoes, or 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 3 tbspoil

Broth

• 2 litresbeef stock or water
• 1bay leaf
• 1 tspground cumin
• salt and black pepper

Body

• 150 grice
• or 100 g fine noodles

To finish

• chopped parsley
• spring onion
• a squeeze of lemon

To serve

• with mandioca, boiled cassava
• or bread

Equipment

• a mortar and pestle, traditionally

Directions

1. Trim the beef of every trace of fat and sinew. Trim it thoroughly, since sinew will not break down under pounding and it will be unpleasant in the finished bowl.
2. Cut the trimmed beef into small pieces. Now pound it in a mortar, in batches, until it becomes a fine shredded pulp. Pound rather than grind. It takes real effort and several minutes per batch, and the meat should end up looking almost like fine wool.
3. Fry the onions, pepper and garlic in oil until soft and golden. Add the tomatoes or tomato paste and cook them down for 5 minutes. Cook the tomato properly rather than adding it late, which leaves a raw acidity through the broth.
4. Stir it into the base and cook it for 5 minutes, breaking it up constantly. Break it up as it cooks so it stays as separate fibres. Add the stock, bay, cumin and seasoning. Bring it to a simmer and cook, partly covered, for 30 minutes. Skim any scum that rises in the first ten minutes.
5. Add it about 20 minutes before the end, so it cooks through and swells into the broth. The rice should be soft and slightly collapsed, which thickens the soup, and this is not a soup that wants separate al dente grains.
6. Add more stock as it thickens, since the rice will keep absorbing. It should end up thick and spoonable but still a soup rather than a stew. Taste it and season generously. Season it well. A pounded beef broth is mild by nature and it needs salt and pepper to come alive.
7. Serve it in deep bowls with parsley and spring onion scattered over and a squeeze of lemon. Serve boiled mandioca alongside, which is the standard Paraguayan accompaniment to almost everything.

Technique

• The pounding is what distinguishes it and is worth the effort.
• Noodles are used in place of rice in some households.
• It is regarded as food for the sick and for new mothers.

Substitutions

• A food processor pulsed briefly in place of a mortar.
• Fine noodles in place of rice.

Variations

• Made with noodles.
• With a beaten egg stirred in at the end.
• Vori vori, with corn dumplings.

History

So’o josopy in Guarani, meaning crushed meat: beef pounded fine and simmered into a thick restorative broth.

Frequently asked questions

What is Soyo?

Soyo is a soup & stew from Paraguay: comforting soup of pounded beef, tomato and rice. So’o josopy in Guarani, meaning crushed meat: beef pounded fine and simmered into a thick restorative broth.

How long does Soyo take to make?

Soyo takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Soyo?

Yes, within limits. A food processor pulsed briefly in place of a mortar. Fine noodles in place of rice.

What is the most important thing to get right in Soyo?

Cut the trimmed beef into small pieces. Now pound it in a mortar, in batches, until it becomes a fine shredded pulp. Pound rather than grind. It takes real effort and several minutes per batch, and the meat should end up looking almost like fine wool.