Eddoe Soup
Aperçu
Eddoe soup is a Liberian soup built on eddoes, the small starchy corms cooked until soft and then crushed so they thicken the broth themselves. No flour or other thickener is used, and the texture comes entirely from the root breaking down. Eddoe, Colocasia esculenta, goes by a long list of names depending on where you are: taro, dasheen, cocoyam. It is a small hairy corm with a light, crumbly flesh and a flavour close to potato but nuttier, which is why it is sometimes called the potato of the tropics. It did not originate in Africa. It is generally traced to India, spreading east to Burma and China and south to Indonesia, then reaching Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean before moving into Africa, the Guinea coast and the Caribbean. That distribution is why closely related soups exist in Guyana and across the West Indies, and why the source article spends as much time on Guyanese preparation as on Liberian. The version here is simple: eddoes and meat cooked together, crushed, then finished with onion, thyme and eschalot and a spoonful of butter. Salt meat or fresh pork, beef or chicken all work, and the choice is a matter of what is available.
Note de Patrimoine AFN
Eddoe, Colocasia esculenta, is documented as originating in India and reaching Africa and the Caribbean through a long east-to-west spread. Eddoe soup is prepared in Liberia and in closely related forms across Guyana and the West Indies.
Ingrédients
Les mentions alimentaires sont fournies par les contributeurs à titre indicatif. Elles ne sont pas vérifiées par AFN et dépendent des produits que vous achetez. En cas d’allergie grave, vérifiez vous-même chaque ingrédient. Cuisine, allergies et votre propre jugement
Préparation
- 1
Peel the eddoes and put them in water to boil with salt and the meat, cut into small pieces.
- 2
When the eddoes are tender, crush them.
- 3
Return them to the saucepan and add the onions, thyme and eschalot. Season with salt and pepper.
- 4
Simmer until smooth.
- 5
Add the butter last and serve, with or without the pieces of meat.
Notes de l’Africook
- Peel the eddoes under running water or wearing gloves. The skin is hairy and the sap irritates some people's hands.
- Crush the eddoes rather than blending them. A blender gives a gluey texture because of the starch, which is the same problem you get blending potato.
- Do not add flour or any other thickener. The crushed eddoe is the thickener, and adding more dulls the flavour.
- Salted meat needs soaking and rinsing first, or the soup will be far too salty once it reduces.
- The butter goes in at the very end, off or nearly off the heat, so it enriches rather than splits.
Questions fréquentes
What is an eddoe?
Eddoe, Colocasia esculenta, is a small starchy corm covered in fine hairs, also known as taro, dasheen or cocoyam depending on the region. Its flesh is light and crumbly with a nutty flavour close to potato, which has earned it the description potato of the tropics. It can be boiled, roasted or fried as well as used in soup.
Is eddoe the same as cocoyam?
They are closely related and the names overlap confusingly. Eddoe usually refers to the small side corms of the taro plant, while cocoyam is used more loosely across West Africa for taro and for tannia, a related but different plant. For this soup, any small taro corm sold as eddoe, dasheen or cocoyam will work.
What thickens the soup?
The eddoes themselves. Once boiled soft and crushed, their starch disperses into the broth and thickens it without any flour or other agent. This is why the crushing step matters and why the soup is described as simmering until smooth rather than until thickened.
Can I make it vegetarian?
Yes. The meat is providing savoury depth rather than structure, so replace it with a good vegetable stock and be generous with the onion, thyme and eschalot. Keep the butter, which contributes a good deal of the richness. It becomes a simpler soup but a perfectly good one.
Avis
4 avis
Subbed the pork for 150g of salted beef chuck. Had to drive down to the Asian market in Salt River to find proper eddoes, but they boiled down so well. Crushing them back into the saucepan gives it such a lekker thick texture, and that 1 tbsp butter right at the end makes it proper glossy. Will definitely make this again just now when winter hits Cape Town.
Had to visit three different local grocers before I finally found eddoes! Peeling them was a bit tricky as they get quite slippery, but the final texture was lovely. The soup turned out surprisingly rich once crushed, though 40 minutes total cook time wasn't quite enough for my beef pieces to soften completely.
Herh, crushing the eddoes to make the soup smooth is so good paa. Reminds me of how my grandmother uses cocoyam for soup back home, but adding butter at the very end is a Liberian touch that surprised me oo. I used fresh chicken for mine and it was very delicious.
couldnt get eddoes in sainsburys so had to trek to the local african shop. the soup ended up far too thick after crushing the eddoes and 40 minutes was not enough time to get them soft. had to add another litre of water and let it simmer way longer than stated.