Red Peas Soup

Method14 steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Pick over and rinse the dry red kidney beans (2 cups). Put them in a large bowl with plenty of the separate soaking water to allow for expansion; keep the measured soup and dough water untouched.

   Uses 2 cups dry red kidney beans · Water to generously cover expanding beans during soaking; discarded

2. 2

   Step 2: Soak the beans overnight, for at least five hours. Drain and discard all the soaking water. Cover the drained beans generously with the separate fresh preboiling water in a pot. Bring to a vigorous rolling boil and boil for at least thirty minutes before adding them to the soup. Drain and discard this preboiling water, holding the preboiled beans ready.

   Rapid-boil soaked kidney beans before soup · 30 minUses All the soaking beans · Fresh water to cover beans generously for rapid preboiling; discarded

3. 3

   Step 3: Have the butcher cut the salted pig tails (2 lb) into two-inch pieces. Put all the pieces in a separate deep pot and cover with fresh desalting water. Bring to a boil and cook for twenty minutes to begin tenderizing and removing salt.

   First pig-tail desalting boil · 20 minUses 2 lb salted pig tails, butcher-cut into 2-inch pieces · Fresh water for the first pig-tail boil

4. 4

   Step 4: Drain the first-boiled pig tails and discard their cooking water. Cover the same pieces with a fresh second batch of desalting water, bring back to a boil and cook for another twenty minutes. Drain and discard that water too; hold the twice-boiled pig tails for the soup.

   Second pig-tail desalting boil · 20 minUses All the first-boiled pig tails · A fresh second batch of desalting water

5. 5

   Step 5: Peel and cut the carrot (1 large) into quarter-inch pieces; chop the spring onions (2), dice the peeled onion (1 medium) and peel/smash the garlic. Wash the thyme (4) and leave both bird’s-eye chillies (2) whole and unpierced. Put all the preboiled beans and twice-boiled pig tails into a large soup pot with all these prepared aromatics, black pepper (½ tsp) and six whole allspice berries. Add the separate ten to twelve cups fresh soup water to cover and bring to a boil. Hold the potatoes, coconut milk, flour and dough water for later stages.

   Uses All the drained preboiled beans · All the prepared pig tails · 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into ¼-inch pieces · 2 spring onions, chopped · 4 fresh thyme sprigs · 1 medium onion, diced · ½ tsp ground black pepper · 2 whole bird’s-eye chillies, kept intact

6. 6

   Step 6: Skim off surface froth and reduce the soup base to a steady gentle boil. Cook for about one hour and fifteen minutes until the beans are tender and beginning to fall apart and the pig tails are tender, continuing as needed.

   Cook bean and pig-tail soup base until tender · 75 minUses The complete soup base

7. 7

   Step 7: Wash, peel and quarter all four potatoes. Stir the prepared potatoes and all the coconut milk (1 cup) into the cooked soup base and cook for fifteen minutes before adding dumplings.

   Cook potatoes and coconut milk before spinners · 15 minUses All the cooked base · 4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered · 1 cup coconut milk, added with potatoes

8. 8

   Step 8: While the potatoes cook, mix all the flour (1 cup) with only the separate quarter-cup dough water and optional pinch of dough salt (1 pinch) until soft and smooth. Let the dough rest for five minutes, then pinch off tablespoon-sized pieces and roll each between your hands into a slender spinner dumpling. Form the full dough batch.

   Rest spinner dough before shaping · 5 minUses 1 cup plain all-purpose wheat flour for spinners · ¼ cup measured water for spinner dough · 1 pinch salt for spinner dough, optional

9. 9

   Step 9: Add all the formed spinners to the soup, stir gently and bring to a rolling boil. Cook for another fifteen minutes until the dumplings are cooked through with no raw flour centre, the potatoes are tender and the pig tails remain fully cooked and tender.

   Boil formed spinners in the soup · 15 minUses All the soup after its potato cooking phase · All the shaped spinners

10. 10

    Step 10: Taste the fully cooked soup before adding any optional finishing salt: the salted pig tails may already season it sufficiently. Keep the whole chillies intact while handling the pot; remove them for a milder finish if wanted.

    Uses All the cooked soup · Extra salt for final soup tasting, only if needed

11. 11

    Step 11: Take out the whole allspice berries and woody thyme stems before serving where practical. Ladle the hot soup, potatoes, pig-tail pieces and cooked spinners into bowls, handling any pig-tail bones carefully.

    Uses All the finished soup

12. 12

    Step 12: If soup remains in the pot, remember it thickens on cooling. Divide leftovers into shallow containers and refrigerate promptly; do not leave the large pot standing warm.

    Uses Only any remaining soup

13. 13

    Step 13: For later meals, label and freeze cooled leftover portions in suitable containers if wanted. Keep portions intended for immediate leftover use refrigerated.

    Uses Only the cooled leftover portions

14. 14

    Step 14: Thaw a frozen portion in the fridge before reheating. Reheat the stored soup thoroughly, stirring to distribute heat until steaming hot and reaching 74 °C /165 °F throughout, then serve.

    Uses Only a refrigerated or frozen portion being served later