JAMAICAN RED PEA SOUP

Try this Jamaican Red Pea soup recipe. It’s a thick and flavourful soup, full of meat, starchy vegetables and chewy dumplings.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 teaspoon Grace Hot Pepper sauce (Buy Now)
• 1 large piece Yellow Yam (Buy Now)
• 1tsp Pimento seed (optional) (Buy Now)
• 1 1/2 cups Dry red peas (kidney beans)
• 8-10 cups Water, approx.
• 1lb Stewing beef
• 1 1/2 lb Pig’s tail or ham hock (optional)
• 1 large Sweet potato
• 1 medium onion, chopped or 3 Stalks green onion, chopped
• 1 tsp Dried thyme or 3 stalks fresh thyme
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste

Dumplings

• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Mix together to make stiff dough

DIRECTIONS: 

• Overnight - Place dry kidney beans in large soup pot on stove, cover with water and soak. If using, place pig tails in bowl, cover with water and soak overnight in fridge to remove excess salt.
• To remove more excess salt, put soaked pig tails in a pot, cover with fresh water and bring to a boil. Repeat this step two more times.
• Place stewing beef in pot with red peas and add enough water to cover the two ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer for about 1 hour, or until peas and beef are cooked. Note: the beef will likely be cooked before the peas, so remove when tender.
• At the same time, in a separate pot cover pig tails with water, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer until tender, about 1 hour
• Note: In both pots, as water evaporates when cooking, add boiling water to cover ingredients.
• When all the ingredients are tender add pig tails (with liquid) to pot with peas and beef and continue simmering.
• Peel and cut yam and sweet potato into large serving pieces; add to boiling soup. Add boiling water to pot to semi cover yams and potatoes.
• Make dumplings and add to boiling pot of soup.
• Add onion, thyme, pimento, hot pepper sauce and black pepper to soup pot and simmer until yams and potatoes are tender and soup has thickened.
• Taste soup for flavour and add salt or pepper, if needed.
• Enjoy