Easy Beef Dumpling Soup
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
15 mins
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Cook Time
45 mins
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Total Time
1 hr
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Servings
12
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Calories
560 kcal
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Course
Soup
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Cuisine
Paraguayan
Easy Beef Dumpling Soup
Description
The Easy Beef Dumpling Soup centers on simmering beef shank and bone-in short ribs with a mixture of aromatics and vegetables including onion, garlic, tomato, carrot, acorn squash, poblano pepper, sweet potato, and Yukon Gold potato. The addition of corn on the cob slices and frozen corn kernels adds subtle sweetness. A key element is the Vori Vori dumplings made from combining white cornmeal with mozzarella or a similar cheese to form a dough. Small balls of this cornmeal-cheese dough are dropped into the simmering broth to cook through, softening while still providing a tender bite.
The broth develops depth from a long simmer of beef with vegetables and bouillon, seasoned simply with salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. The resulting soup balances savory, sweet, and spicy notes with the mellow earthiness of the squash and root vegetables. The dumplings bring a distinct texture and cheesy richness that complements the meaty broth. This combination yields a comforting and substantial soup that is well-suited for colder days.
This soup serves well as a full meal by itself due to the hearty vegetables and filling dumplings. It can be ladled directly into bowls with a squeeze of lime juice to brighten the flavors. The recipe makes enough to enjoy leftovers, which can be stored carefully and reheated with extra broth or water to maintain the consistency and keep the dumplings intact without becoming overly soft.
Handling the Vori Vori dough requires mixing just enough broth to create a smooth, consistent dough that can be shaped easily. Dumplings should be roughly one inch in diameter for even cooking throughout the simmering process. Care should be taken when reheating so the dumplings retain their texture rather than becoming mushy.
Ingredients
For the Vori Vori (Dumplings):
- 500 g white cornmeal I use P.A.N. brand, precooked P.A.N brand; or Maseca
- 250 g mozzarella cheese farmers cheese, or shredded Parmesan cheese, shredded
For the beef soup:
- 2 lb beef shank
- 3 lb beef short ribs bone-in
- 2 onion chopped, large
- 7 garlic finely chopped, large cloves
- 7 carrot peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 acorn squash (about 3 ½ pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 5 tomato chopped, large
- 2 poblano pepper chopped, or bell pepper
- 1 sweet potato peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces, large
- 1 potato peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks, Yukon Gold, large
- 2-½ Tablespoons Knorr beef bouillon to taste
- kosher salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper to taste, ground
- ¼ teaspoons red pepper flakes to taste
- 16 cup water hot
- 2 corn cut crosswise into ½ inch slices, whole ear
- 1 cup corn kernels frozen
- 4 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
- lime juice to taste, juice from 1 or 2 large limes
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat, about 1 minute—Brown the ribs well on both sides. Add the onions, poblano pepper, tomatoes, chili pepper,Beef Flavor Bouillon, and garlic and cook until the vegetables soften, about 10 minutes, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon.
- Cover abundantly with hot water, and bring to a boil (the liquid must always be covering the meat and vegetables), then let cook at a simmer for about 1-½ hours.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cornmeal and cheese. Ladles about 6 ladles of the chicken broth (be sure to add just enough chicken broth to make it moist dough) and mix with a wooden spoon or fork. Knead the dough briefly with your hands until you have a smooth, homogenous mixture.
- Pinch off a bit of dough (about a tablespoon) with your fingertips and use the palms of your hands to form a ball of approximately 1 inch in diameter.
- Place your Vori Vori on a plate and repeat this step until you have used up all the dough. Next, cover the Vori Vori with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes to let rehydrate or refrigerate until needed.
- Add the sweet potato, white potatoes, bay leaf, oregano, and squash to the chicken soup. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender for about 30 minutes or until it reaches desired consistency. Taste and adjust the season with salt and pepper, if needed.
- Gently add the balls of dough (do this slowly, one or two at a time, so that they don’t fall apart, it will sink to the bottom of the pot, but little by little during their cooking time, they will begin to float to the surface) Add the chopped cilantro and green onion and gently shake the pot, to combine.
- Simmer the Beef Dumpling Soup for 10 minutes, stirring very carefully, or gently shake the pot so that they don’t break every once in a while. Add the lemon juice, serve beef dumpling soup into bowls, sprinkle with chopped cilantro or parsley, and serve with cooked yuca or a slice of crusty bread and a wedge of lime. Enjoy our Beef Dumpling Soup!
Notes
- Allow the soup to cool completely before refrigeration in an airtight container to preserve freshness.
- Reheat on the stovetop over medium heat, stirring occasionally; add broth or water if soup thickens to desired consistency.
- If using a microwave, reheat in short intervals stirring between to avoid overcooking the dumplings.
- The dumplings may soften after reheating but remain flavorful; avoid excessive reheating to prevent mushiness.
- Prepare the soup a day or two ahead to enhance flavors and save time on serving day.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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