🇨🇴 Colombia, 🇻🇪 Venezuela, 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic, and 🇵🇦 Panama · and the Dominican Republic, with kin across the Caribbean and Central America

MondongoColombian tripe soup

A tripe soup of Colombia and the Caribbean basin, in which beef (or pork) tripe is simmered with a tomato or sofrito base and root vegetables, often with chickpeas, pork feet or chorizo.

Origin and history

Mondongo is a tripe soup eaten from Colombia and Venezuela to Panama and the Dominican Republic. One Colombian journalist describes it as a creole dish descended from the callos a la madrileña of Spain; a food guide credits it to Venezuela. Both accounts are claims rather than records.

Make it at home

Makes: 6 servings
Total time: 4 h
Hands-on: 50 min

Ingredients

Metric US

900 g2 lb beef tripe, rinsed
1 lime, juiced, for cleaning the tripe
1/2 tsp baking soda, for the first boil
500 g1.1 lb pork ribs or pork shoulder, in small pieces
3 chorizo sausages, sliced; optional
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 white onion, chopped
3 scallions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 sweet pepper, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp achiote (annatto) powder
2.5 l2.5 quarts water
500 g1.1 lb yuca, peeled, in chunks
4 small potatoes, peeled, halved
1 bunch cilantro, chopped, plus more to serve
salt and black pepper, to taste
white rice, avocado, ripe banana or plantain, lime wedges and ají (hot sauce), to serve

Method

1. Rub the tripe with the lime juice and rinse it well in warm water. Cut it into bite-size pieces.
2. Put the tripe in a large pot with the baking soda and water to cover by 5 cm (2 in). Boil, then simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (about 45 minutes in a pressure cooker) until very tender. Drain and discard the water.
3. In a clean large pot, heat the oil and fry the onion, scallions, garlic and sweet pepper for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cumin and achiote and cook 5 minutes more.
4. Add the cooked tripe, the pork and the chorizo and pour in the 2.5 litres of fresh water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 45 minutes.
5. Add the yuca and the potatoes and cook for 30 minutes, until they are soft and the broth has thickened slightly.
6. Stir in the cilantro, season with salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes.
7. Serve in deep bowls with rice, avocado and banana on the side, a squeeze of lime, more cilantro and ají.

Notes

Mondongo is the tripe soup of Colombia and the Caribbean basin; Venezuela, Panama and the Dominican Republic all make their own. Cooks argue about the vegetables: some Colombian cooks have dropped yuca because of the slimy texture it can give, others keep it.
Colombian mondongo is brothy and served with rice, avocado and banana; the Dominican form is thicker, built on a sofrito and tomato sauce with peppers, onions, celery, garlic and olives.
Pig's feet, plantain, cabbage and corn on the cob turn up in some regional versions.
Mondongo is a different soup from Mexican menudo, which is built on a dried-chile broth.
Ask the butcher for blanched tripe. It reheats well and is better the next day.

Adapted from My Colombian Recipes, Colombian mondongo, Vanguardia, El mondongo, and Uncommon Caribbean, Dominican mondongo.