Portuguese Bean Soup (Sopa de Feijao)

A friend of mine gave me a Gouveia brand linguica (Portuguese sausage) and I thought, "Now what?".  It's not often that I eat Portuguese sausage because it's generally quite salty and fatty.  I definitely wasn't about to cut and fry the entire sausage and eat it in one sitting, so I decided that a better use of the sausage would be to use it to make soup.  So that's what I did...I made Portuguese bean soup.

Portuguese bean soup is a local favorite...an island comfort food if there ever was one.  Great for rainy days, everyone has his/her own personal favorite interpretation of this dish.  The soup has a tomato base and gets it's rich flavor from smoked ham hocks.

The hock is the lower part of a pig's hind leg and ham hocks are generally used to impart a rich flavor to soups or stews that require long, slow cooking.  I know that to some this might look awful, but without it, this soup would have none of its signature flavor.

Here's the list of ingredients that you'll need to make my version of this soup:

2-3 medium sized smoked ham hocks or ham shanks
1 pound Portuguese sausage, diced

1 medium sized Maui onion*, coarsely chopped
2 medium sized potatoes, cubed
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
4 cups coarsely chopped cabbage
2 15-ounce cans kidney beans with liquid**

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 6-ounce can tomato paste

3 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch cilantro (Chinese parsley), coarsely chopped
a handful of black peppercorns
3-4 dried bay leaves

*May substitute any sweet onion (i.e. Vidalia) that's available.

**May substitute 1 pound dry beans soaked overnight.

***All amounts are approximate.  You may want to add more/less of any ingredient depending on your own personal likes/dislikes.  The amounts listed above are those that I use.

In large stock pot, combine ham hocks, Maui onion, cilantro, garlic, black peppercorns and bay leaves. 

Add just enough water to cover the ham hocks completely.  Bring water to a boil, then lower to simmer.  Simmer covered for about 2 hours.  This slow cooking is what gives the soup it's rich flavor.

Skim any fat.  Remove the ham hocks and de-bone, dice and set aside.

To the pot, add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, carrots, celery, potatoes and cabbage.  Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.  Add in diced ham hocks and Portuguese sausage.  Continue to simmer until cooked through (about 40 minutes).

Serve topped with fresh chopped cilantro and cracked black pepper.

For a true local-style presentation...serve with thick slices of buttered pao doce (Portuguese sweet bread).

Comments

[pieman]

Looks like a fantatsic hearty broth you've cooked up there. And the hocks, far from looking awful, look deliciously packed with flavour.

[Reid]

Pieman,

Thanks for the compliment. Actually, I think this soup is a lot like a hearty minestrone or a "soupy" stew. The broth is actually quite wonderful and has a nice rich flavor thanks to the prolonged cooking time...and of course, the smoked ham hocks.

Local-style Portuguese bean soup is actually not the same without the ham hocks, but I guess some people don't like them because they are afraid of eating pigs hindquarters. Others don't like them because they are not visually appealing, especially after being smoked.

The soup actually tastes much better on the second or third day after it's cooked.

[Gooders]

I spend a lot of time in Portugal and this is the first time i've seen feijao done with kidney beans, but it sounds interesting, I think I might give it a go!

[Reid]

Hi Gooders,

Thanks for dropping by my blog.

I'm not sure if this is a traditional recipe or not, but it's one of many local ones. If you do try this, let me know how it goes.

My apologies for the delayed response.

[Jesse Lea]

Local girl here, I'm ono for that right now! I'll give your recipe a go...and let you know. Mahalo