Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Congo Green Papaya Soup*

I've been in a bit of a rut about food lately. Everything I've fixed myself has been food I like (New Orleans Red Beans & Rice, tomatoes Kandahar, spicy tuna casserole, V-8 aspic, pico de gallo, southwestern meat loaf, zucchini lime soup, a few other things) but I've been eating the same few recipes over and over. So, I sat down at my desk and pulled out my cookbooks and went looking for something that I haven't fixed in a while. And found this, which I haven't had in the last three or four years and which is easy and which I love. It's fairly quick and inexpensive. And it occurred to me that some of you might enjoy it as well.

2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, minced
2 large, green papayas, peeled, sliced lengthwise, seeded, and diced
1 teaspoon salt
cayenne pepper to taste (I use ½ teaspoon)

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and sauté until it is transparent, then add the broth. Add the papaya, salt, and cayenne pepper and simmer until the papaya is tender, about 8 minutes. Pour the mixture into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

Update: Julie asked if you serve it cold, because of the ice in the picture. That picture is from a version that is served cold. I serve mine hot.

* Medaris, Angela Shelf, The African-American Kitchen. Page 29

6 comments:

Anna said...

What makes a southwestern meatloaf different. One of my favourite American constructs is that you 'fix' food.

J said...

Do you serve it cold? The ice in the picture made me think so...

Maya's Granny said...

I serve it hot, but the picture I found was a version that is served cold.

Maya's Granny said...

Anna,

Southwestern meatloaf has cornmeal and is spicy. If you want the recipe, I can post it.

Anna said...

I would like it very much - I still make plain old meatloaf from a a recipe given to me when I was working in Memphis years ago.

Anonymous said...

My busband enjoyed this soup very much saying it was balanced.

I made it with about 2-3 cups of shredded green papaya, and also added a clove of garlic to the onions. We're vegan so I used a vegan bullion cube suitable for 2 cups of water. I believe the SMALL onion is a good idea, and also carmelizing the onion and garlic makes this soup delicious. I did not add salt.