Colombian Chicken Soup

The Recipe

Serves: 6-8 People
Preparation: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 40-60 minutes

“The very name of this soup, Ajiaco, includes the word Aji, meaning chilli pepper, in the language of the Taino people.”

 Ajiaco is a traditional soup that has evolved with the history and culinary landscape of Colombia. More than a soup, it is a stew consisting of filling ingredients that is perfect for cooler seasons and is accompanied by a variety of sides making it a very substantial meal.  

Honestly, it is quite difficult to replicate the exact taste of this dish if you do not have the access to Colombian guascas or potatoes, but you can adapt and tweak a little like I have done for this recipe. (Purists, please close on eye).

Try this simply delish soup - make it in bulk and share the warmth and comfort of my favourite Colombian dish.

Or read a little more about its history HERE

THE INGREDIENTS

1 bone in chicken breasts (200g)
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
120g spring onions (whole)
500g/3 white potatoes, peeled diced into 2cm cubes
500g/3 red potatoes, peeled and diced into 2cm cubes
3 ears of fresh corn, cut into halves
1 jalapeno (optional, finely sliced)
1.5 tsp dried oregano
10g finely chopped coriander stalks

2 litres of good chicken stock OR 2 litres of water and 2 bouillon chicken stock cubes
1/2 -1 tsp salt (depending on the slat level of your stock)
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper (or more if you wish)

10g coriander

Garnish
120mls cream
15g capers
chopped coriander leaves
finely chopped spring onion

THE METHOD

1. In a large pot (4L), on medium heat, warm olive oil and sear the chicken breast skin down first.
   Add in the garlic, spring onions, coriander stems and salt, cook for 3 m before adding the corn, chopped potatoes and oregano. You can add in the chilli here if you are including it.

2. Once the ingredients are seared, pour in the stock and turn and lower the heat. Cook for about 1 hour until the chicken is soft and tender and the stock is slightly reduced.

3. Remove the chicken breast and shred the meat off the bone, remove the spring onions and discard.

4. Place pieces of corn in serving bowls, add in the shredded chicken and ladle in the soup.

5. Leave room for a splash of cream

6. Top with chopped coriander, spring onions and a sprinkle of capers.

7. Serve with white rice and fresh, buttery sliced avocado

Khmer Herb Linguine

The Recipe

Serves: 2-3 People
Preparation: 12 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

“As well as for medicinal purposes, Khmer herbs are also used for beauty and culinary applications.”

Khmer herbs are one of the unique building blocks of Cambodian cuisine. The country’s rich biodiversity is where around 3000 vascular plant species grow and just over a third of this number are medicinal plants used to treat a variety of illnesses. Traditional medicine practitioners in Cambodia are known as Kru Khmer, who prescribe a variety of herbs and tonics to patients, from a combine lineage of Ayurveda, Theravada Buddhism, and traditional Chinese Medicine. As well as for medicinal purposes, Khmer herbs are also used for beauty and culinary applications.

Herbs such as neem, noni leaves, and holy basil are quite bitter when eaten raw, yet once cooked, take on a different flavour profile, making them an extremely important element in the country’s cuisine. Amok Trei (Fish Amok) is a perfect example of this with the inclusion of noni leaves, creating a unique texture and flavour to one of Cambodia’s most recognised dishes.

When cooking with Khmer herbs, those with a more intense and bitter profile are best chopped or sliced finely before being incorporated into a dish, the others are fine to be blended – I did a lot of tasting to decipher which to blend or slice making this pesto. I just had to add Cambodian cashews (salty skins and all) into this dish, because I am addicted to them!

It’s a simple recipe, allowing the herbs to shine and cling nicely to strands of flat linguine. Some of the herbs listed below may not be available to you but don’t worry, you can simply take a chance and explore the herbs that are, and experiment to make your own unique blend - think coriander and pumpkin seeds, sage and oregano with sunflower seeds, whatever you fancy. I would love to know the results so let me know!!

If you would like to read on, here’s a wonderful study on the medicinal herbs in Cambodia, as well as the culinary herbs.

Credit ChangKran Khmer

THE INGREDIENTS

300g linguine, spaghetti etc
1 tbsp sea salt

 KHMER HERB PASTE
80g mixed Khmer herbs.
(sawtooth coriander, rice paddy herb, holy basil, shining bush plant/peperomia pellucida, neem) *
50g cashews
150g olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 x lime juice
30g parmesan cheese
½ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper

Sliced red chillies and herbs.

*when using bitter herbs, make sure you include no more than 20% into the paste otherwise it will be extremely bitter… and no one wants that.

THE METHOD

1. Taste your herbs, and slice the more bitter tasting ones, set them aside

2. For the more neutral herbs, place into a food processor or blender

3. Add in nuts, garlic, oil, cheese, lime, salt and pepper.

4. Blend these dry ingredients first until they are fine, then slowly add in the oil in stages, taking into account the consistency of the paste. Feel free to add more or less oil, it’s entirely up to you, just make sure it is the right consistency to coat the pasta.

5. Mix the sliced herbs into the paste and set aside.

6. Meanwhile bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil and add salt

7. Cook pasta according to instructions

8. Mix through the paste and plate

9. Garnish with sliced red chillies and herbs