The discovery of new food is one of the great pleasures of travel, and indeed of life, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Although travel is not on the cards for the foreseeable future, that doesn’t mean we can’t still experience new things. Food, at least, is something we can explore and recreate at home.

Bolivian Peanut Soup, or Sopa de Maní, is a traditional dish I learnt to cook during my month in Bolivia. This creamy soup is very hearty, and surprisingly easy to make.

Having a bit more time on my hands now, I decided to try making this soup back home, with a few adaptations.

Incan Food Preservation Technology

The original recipe uses chuño, which is freeze-dried potato. Freeze-drying is an ancient Incan food preservation technique, allowing the potato to be stored for up to 10 years.

Chuño look like unappetising greyish-brown lumps, and weren’t popular with my fellow cookery students. But I quite liked the depth of flavour and texture they added to the soup.

My cookery teacher assured me that the soup would be just as tasty and authentic without the chuño. I added extra chickpeas to my recipe instead.

Peanuts

Peanuts are the key ingredient, as the name suggests, and give the soup its creaminess. The original recipe uses raw peanuts, which are soaked in water and then peeled. Raw peanuts can cause gastrointestinal upset and need to be boiled for at least an hour.

However, I couldn’t find raw peanuts anywhere, so I used roasted (unsalted) peanuts. This actually turned out better, as it cut down the cooking time.

Llajua

Llajua (pronounced ya-hwa) is a special Bolivian salsa made from tomato and locoto chilli peppers. It’s a staple item served at every Bolivian dinner table, and was a firm favourite of mine. It goes well with pretty much anything – soup, salad, meat, even chips!

Locoto peppers weren’t easily available back home, but regular chilli peppers did the trick just fine. Llajua can be stirred into the peanut soup for an extra spicy kick.

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Ingredients

For the Soup

• 250g roasted unsalted peanuts
• 2 whole chicken legs (omit for a vegetarian option)
• 200g chickpeas
• 200g penne pasta
• 3 large potatoes
• 3 carrots
• Salt (1 teaspoon)
• Turmeric (1 teaspoon)
• Oregano (1 teaspoon)
• Chopped parsley (for garnish)

For the Llajua Sauce

• 2 ripe tomatoes (peeled)
• 1 chilli pepper (de-seeded)

Cooking Instructions

1. Chop up the chicken and add to a pot of boiling water.

2. Blend the peanuts in a food processor with a cup of water until it becomes a smooth paste and add to the pot. Add more water if the soup is too thick.

3. Peel and chop the carrots and potatoes and add to the pot.

4. Rinse the chickpeas and add to the pot.

5. Stir in the salt and turmeric. The turmeric gives the soup its characteristic yellow colour.

6. Toast the dry pasta using a small amount of oil to grease the pan. Toast until golden and crunchy. (Italian friends, look away)

7. Continue to simmer the soup for about half an hour, until the carrots and potatoes are soft.

8. Add the toasted pasta and oregano. Simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes.

9. For the llajua: chop the tomatoes and chilli pepper and blend together. Add a pinch of salt to taste.

10. Serve the soup with chopped parsley to garnish. Stir in a few spoonfuls of llajua sauce to taste.

If you enjoyed the Bolivian peanut soup, you can read more more about other Bolivian foods you can try.

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