Suaasat (Suaasat)
Overview
Suaasat is the traditional soup of Greenland, usually made with seal meat. Pieces of seal, or sometimes whale, caribou or seabirds such as eider duck, are simmered in water with onions, bay leaves, salt and black pepper until tender. The soup is thickened with rice, or with barley that has been soaked in the water overnight so that its starch thickens the broth, and potatoes are often added. The result is a thick, warming and very rich soup, dark from the seal meat. It is eaten as a main meal, especially in the cold months.
History
Suaasat is considered Greenland's national dish. Seal hunting has fed the Inuit of Greenland for thousands of years, and the meat, fat and skin of seals were used for food, clothing and fuel. The soup is still cooked in Greenlandic homes for family meals and celebrations, and seal remains an important food in many towns and settlements.
Main ingredients
Seal meat, onion, potatoes, rice or barley, bay leaf, black pepper. The soup is built on seal broth and is usually served hot. Diet: contains meat; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Potato soups · Rice soups · Barley and grains soups
Recipe
Method
- 1
Put the meat in a pot with 2 l water, bring to the boil and skim.
- 21 h
Add the onions, bay leaves, salt and pepper and simmer for 1 hour.
- 320 min
Add the rice or soaked barley with its water and simmer for 20 minutes.
- 415 min
Add the potatoes and cook for 15 minutes more, until thick.
- 5
Season and serve hot.
- ✓
Serve. About 1h 45m from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
