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Ecuadorian green plantain dumpling soup - Caldo de bolas de verde

Caldo de bolas de verde is a typical Ecuadorian soup of green plantain balls or dumplings stuffed with meat and served in a delicious broth with corn and yuca.

Prep Time
45 mins
Cook Time
2 hrs
Total Time
2 hrs 45 mins
Servings: 10 people
Course: Main Course , Soup
Cuisine: South American , Ecuadorian

Ingredients

For the beef broth:
  • 2 tbs oil or butter
  • 1 white onion diced
  • 6 garlic cloves crushed
  • 3 tomatoes diced
  • 1 green bell pepper diced
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp achiote
  • 2 tbs finely chopped cilantro
  • ½ tbs dried oregano
  • 2 tsp chili or hot pepper powder
  • 10 cups water/broth
  • 1 ½ lb beef bones
  • 1 lb beef stew style, cut in pieces
  • 4 green plantains peeled and cut in half
  • 2 carrots peeled
  • 1 large fresh yuca peeled and cut in large chunks – or 20 oz frozen yuca
  • 3 fresh ears of corn cut in half
  • 4 Cabbage leaves cut in large pieces– optional
For the beef filling:
  • 2 tbs butter or oil
  • ½ red onion finely diced
  • 1 to mato peeled and diced
  • 2 garlic cloves crushed
  • ½ bell pepper diced
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp achiote
  • 2 tbs peanut butter or ½ cup raw peanuts toasted and blended with ¼ cup of broth
  • 4 tbs broth
  • ½ cup cooked peas
  • 2 tbs finely chopped cilantro
  • ½ cup of raisins – optional
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs diced – optional
  • salt and pepper to taste
For the green plantain balls or dumplings:
  • 4 green plantains raw, peeled and finely grated
  • 2 eggs
  • salt and pepper to taste
To serve:
  • finely chopped cilantro or parsley
  • Llime slices
  • Red pickled onions or cebollas encurtidas
  • Aji hot sauce

Instructions

For the beef broth:
    Cup of Yum
  1. Heat the oil or butter over medium heat in a large pot, make a refrito or base for the broth by adding the diced onions, garlic, tomatoes, bell pepper, cumin, achiote, cilantro, oregano, salt and pepper.
  2. Add the 10 cups of water/broth, the beef bones, the meat chunks, and plantains pieces.
  3. Bring to a boil, reduce temperature and simmer for about 30 minutes.
  4. Add the yuca pieces and continue simmering for another 30 minutes or until the meat is tender
  5. Add the carrots, corn and cabbage, cook for another 15 minutes or until all the ingredients are fully cooked.
  6. Remove from the heat and let cool until safe to handle, then remove the bones from the broth and discard them.
  7. Remove the meat, carrots, corn and yucas from the broth, leave the plantains in the broth until ready to use them – keeping them in the broth will prevent them from drying out and make it easier to mash them.
  8. Remove the meat and chop it into very small pieces.
  9. Cut the cooked carrots into small pieces.
  10. Remove the strings from the yuca and cut them into small bite size pieces.
  11. Chop the cooked cabbage and cut the corn in smaller slices; reserve the corn, yuca and cabbage for later.
For the beef filling:
  1. To make the meat filling for the green banana balls or dumplings make a refrito or base by heating the butter or oil over medium heat, add the onions, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, cumin, achiote and salt.
  2. Add the chopped meat, carrots, peas and cilantro.
  3. Mix in the peanut butter and 4 tbs of the broth, as well as the raisins and hard boiled eggs if using, mix all the ingredients well and save the filling until needed.
For the plantain dumplings:
  1. Meanwhile remove the plantains from the broth and mix them in the food processor until a sticky dough is obtained.
  2. Mix the cooked plantain dough with the grated raw plantains, the eggs and some salt and pepper, you can either mix these by hand or in the food processor.
  3. Using your hands, try to keep them wet or lightly greased, form the plantain dough into medium to large sized balls, stuff each one with a generous spoonful or two of the meat filling.
For the final soup preparation:
  1. Strain the broth and return to the heat until it boils, reduce to a simmer and add the dumplings, cook over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, be very careful not to stir the soup to avoid breaking the dumplings.
  2. Using a ladle remove the dumplings from the soup and place them on a plate.
  3. Add the chopped yuca, chopped cabbage, corn slices and any leftover filling back to the broth, cook until all the ingredients are re-warmed.
  4. Add the finely chopped cilantro to the broth.
  5. Place a green plantain dumpling or two in each bowl; add a ladleful of broth with yuca, cabbage and corn.
  6. Serve with lime slices, aji and pickled onions.