Recipe Mondongo (Venezuelan tripe soup)

[karadekoolaid]

This recipe is based on a friend's version. She assures me it's delicious. I have only ever tasted the soup - never the tripe!
Ingredients:
1 kg tripe
1/2 tbsp sodium bicarbonate
3 lemons/limes, cut in half
2½ lts water
100 gms of each of the following, cut into small pieces : yucca (manioc), green beans, carrots,potatoes, ocumo,sweet potato,yam, pumpkin
350 gms sweet corn kernels
1 whole sweet corn, sliced into rounds
1 small green plantain, sliced into rounds
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
5 tsps salt
1 tbsp capers
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp pickled vegetables
1 tsp paprika
3 tbsps mixed parsley and coriander leaf (cilantro)
For the "sofrito"
125 mls oil
3 medium onions, diced
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 large leeks, white part only, diced
2 spring (green) onions, diced
1 large red pepper, diced
4 large tomatoes, diced
4 sweet chiles (if not available, use mild chiles) diced

Method:
To prepare the tripe:

• Rinse the tripe under running water and put into a large flat dish. Sprinkle with the bicarb, cover with water and leave for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, scrub the tripe on the inside first ( the crinkly bit) and then on the outside. Remove the excess membrane from the outside.
• Wash the tripe under running water once again, then rub all over with the lemons.
• Cook in a pressure cooker for about 30 minutes, covered in water and with half the salt added. Set aside and allow to cool.

For the "sofrito":

• Heat the oil in a large pan. When hot, add the onions, garlic, leeks, spring onions, peppers, tomatoes and sweet chiles. Cook for about 15 minutes until the vegetables have softened.
• Meanwhile, remove the tripe from the pressure cooker, retaining the cooking liquid, and cut into small pieces.
• Add all the remaining vegetables and ingredients, except the parsley and coriander, to the pan. Add the tripe and the cooking liquid and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook for about an hour, until the root vegetables are soft and the tripe is tender.
• Garnish with the parsley/coriander leaf.

 

[Barriehie]

Ingredients list is longer than my screen!

Gracias Senor!

 

[Z-Cook]

Looks fantastic! Thanks! And tell your friend thanks too!

What was the soup like?

 

[badjak]

I got a feeling this would work with beef (tough cuts) or chicken (adjust cooking time) as well

 

[karadekoolaid]

Gracias Senor!

El placer es mío (my pleasure!)

 

[karadekoolaid]

What was the soup like?

Like I said, I don't eat tripe so I can't really tell you.
I do remember having some way back, however, (without eating the tripe) and the veg/coriander on top was really satisfying.

 

[karadekoolaid]

I got a feeling this would work with beef (tough cuts) or chicken (adjust cooking time) as well

Oddly enough, there's another "soup" that's prepared in a similar way. It's called sancocho and, once again, has its origins in food fro the poor: take a large pot, add water and bung in anything you have available, basically, with loads of root vegetables. On the beach, you'll get fish sancocho; in the cities, you may get sancocho with chicken (they tend to use hen, because the hens are tougher) or with beef short ribs (because they're cheap).
Again, the dish is popular all around the Caribbean.