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Costa Rican recipe

How to make Sopa negra

Sopa negra de frijoles

All of Costa Rica

Commons: Sopa negra
Photo: Aleat88, CC BY-SA 4.0

A dark black bean soup flavoured with onion, garlic, sweet pepper and coriander, served with a hard-boiled egg in the bowl. It is a warming, cheap and very Costa Rican way to use beans.

Serves 4 40 min

Ingredients

  • 2 tins black beans (400 g each), with their liquid
  • 1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • Half a red sweet pepper, chopped
  • 1 celery stick, chopped
  • A small handful of fresh coriander (cilantro)
  • 4 eggs
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Put the eggs in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool them in cold water, peel and set aside.
  2. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion, garlic, sweet pepper and celery for about 5 minutes, until soft.
  3. Add the beans with their liquid and the stock. Simmer for 15 minutes.
  4. Blend about half of the soup until smooth and stir it back in, so the soup is thick but still has whole beans. Season with salt, pepper and chopped coriander.
  5. Ladle into bowls and add a halved hard-boiled egg to each one.
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