Sopa Negra (Sopa negra)
Overview
Sopa negra is a Costa Rican black bean soup. Black beans are cooked slowly with onion, garlic, sweet pepper and culantro or coriander until they are soft and the cooking liquid has turned dark and silky. Some of the beans are mashed or blended to thicken the broth, while others are left whole. The soup is seasoned with salt and a dash of Salsa Lizano or cumin. Each bowl is served with a peeled hard-boiled egg, sliced or left whole, and is often topped with chopped coriander, sour cream or a spoon of rice. It is mild, earthy and very comforting.
History
Black beans are at the heart of Costa Rican food, eaten every day in gallo pinto and casados, and sopa negra makes use of the bean broth that is always on hand in a Tico kitchen. It is a cheap and nourishing home soup, often made on rainy days, and it appears on the menus of sodas, the small family restaurants that serve traditional food across the country. The boiled egg in the bowl is its signature.
Main ingredients
Black beans, hard-boiled egg, onion, sweet pepper, culantro, garlic. The soup is built on black bean broth and is usually served hot. Diet: vegetarian; usually gluten-free.
Explore: Bean soups · Egg soups · More soups from Costa Rica
Recipe
Method
- 11 h 30 min
Cook the beans in 2.5 l water with half the onion, pepper and garlic for 1 hour 30 minutes, until soft.
- 2
Fry the rest of the onion, pepper and garlic and add to the pot.
- 3
Blend about a third of the beans and return to the pot.
- 415 min
Add the culantro and cumin, season and simmer for 15 minutes.
- 5
Serve each bowl with a hard-boiled egg.
- ✓
Serve. About 2h 15m from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
