🇨🇴 Colombia · Boyaca and Cundinamarca, Andean highlands
CuchucoColombian wheat and pork soup
A thick highland soup of Boyaca and Cundinamarca made from cracked wheat (cuchuco de trigo) cooked with pork spine or other pork, potatoes, fava beans, peas and green beans.
Origin and history
Cuchuco de trigo is a thick soup of Boyacá and Cundinamarca. A Boyacá chef told El Tiempo it is a signature dish of Tunja that brings together two products of the colonial period: wheat, which he says Tunja was the first Latin American city to grow, and pigs. He ties it to the Thursday market of Runta in Tunja, when pigs slaughtered on Tuesday are served; these are the chef's claims, not independently verified.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 5 servings
- Total time
- 1 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 40 min
Ingredients
- 180 ml3/4 cup cuchuco de trigo (cracked wheat), soaked overnight in water, drained, rinsed three times
- 1 kg2.2 lb pork spine (espinazo de cerdo), or other bone-in pork; washed
- 1/2 tbsp salt, for the pork, plus more to taste
- 450 g1 lb papas criolla (small yellow potatoes), unpeeled
- 2 large papas sabaneras (or other floury potatoes), peeled, cubed
- 1 large papa pastusa (or waxy potato), peeled, cubed
- 225 g8 oz fava beans in the pod (habas), shelled weight is less; shell them
- 115 g4 oz peas in the pod (arvejas), shelled
- 115 g4 oz green beans (fríjol verde), trimmed, cut
- 1 stalk scallion (cebolla larga)
- 1/2 head garlic, cloves peeled and lightly crushed
- 1 stalk cilantro
- 1 small carrot, diced
Method
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1. The night before, cover the cuchuco with water and leave it to soak. Next day discard the water, rinse the wheat three times and drain it, pressing out the water.
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2. Cover the pork spine with cold water in a large pot, add 1/2 tbsp salt and cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
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3. Transfer to a pressure cooker and cook for another 30 minutes, until the pork is tender.
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4. Open the pot and, with the broth boiling, add the soaked cuchuco, the criolla potatoes, the cubed potatoes, the fava beans, peas, green beans, cilantro, scallion and garlic.
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5. Cook uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, until the wheat and potatoes are tender and the broth has thickened.
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6. Add the diced carrot, stir, cook for 1 minute more, adjust the salt and serve hot with a piece of pork in each bowl.
Notes
- In a pot without a pressure cooker, cook the pork covered at a gentle simmer until the meat is tender before adding the grain; plan on well over an hour.
- The grain gives the soup its name; this recipe is the wheat form (cuchuco de trigo).
- A Boyacá chef describes cuchuco de trigo served with spine and chopped criolla potato, and it may be accompanied by pork rib, chicharrón, longaniza, morcilla and pork bones.
- The Colombia.com recipe lists two leaves of white cabbage in the ingredients but never uses them in the method; cut them in strips and add them with the beans if you wish.
- Cuchuco is different from mute, the corn-and-tripe soup of Santander.
- Make ahead: the soup thickens a lot as it stands; thin it with hot water or broth when reheating.
Adapted from Colombia.com, Cuchuco de trigo con espinazo de cerdo (Boyacá) and El Tiempo, Sopas boyacenses con mucha historia.
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