Peanut Soup (Surinamese)

Peanut soup probably originated from Africa where it’s a well-know soup in African cuisine. This tasty soup can be made with peanut butter or roasted peanuts ground into a paste. I prefer to use “natural” peanut butter, which is usually a bit chunkier and has no other ingredients than peanuts and maybe some oil. So no preservatives whatsoever. Of course regular peanut butter can be used too because it’s about the peanut flavor.

One of my favorite soups, made with chicken and salted beef, you have to like peanuts (or peanut butter) because the flavor is strong. And if you don’t have the “stomach” for it, you may want to skip this soup as it is really rich. But oh so tasty!

In Suriname we add ripe plantains for a contrasting flavor, but you can easily leave it out. Pindasoep (pinda is peanut in Dutch) is a very popular, or should I say “common” soup in Suriname.  Here’s the recipe to give it a try.

Peanut Soup (Surinamese)

One of my favorite soups, made with chicken and salted beef, you have to like peanuts (or peanut butter) because the flavor is strong.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb chicken cut up
• 1/4 lb salted beef cubed
• 1/2 lb peanut butter natural
• 2 green or ripe plantains
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 2 tsp bouillon powder
• 2 tbsp celery chopped
• 5-6 cups water
• Salt & pepper
• 7 allspice
• 1 bay leaf
• habanero pepper optional

Instructions

 

• Boil and rinse the salted beef twice to reduce saltiness.
• In a large pot, boil water with chicken, salted beef, onion, bouillon, celery, allspice and pepper into a broth for about 45 minutes.
• Remove 1 cup of broth to stir and dissolve the peanut butter in a bowl.
• Add peanut butter mixture to the soup and stir evenly.
• Cook for another 15 minutes with whole pepper on top. Finish to taste.
• Peel the plantains and boil with some salt for about 40 minutes (green) or 20 minutes (ripe).
• Mash cooked plantains, cool off and form dumplings or balls (“tomtom”) to serve with the soup.

Serve plain soup as an appetizer, or serve with plantain dumplings (“tomtom”) and rice for a full meal.

Okay you peanut lovers, let me know how you liked the soup!

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