Chupe Verde Cusqueno
Chupe verde is the green soup of Cusco, built on potatoes and fava beans and turned emerald by a fistful of Andean herbs. The signature aromatics are huacatay, the pungent black mint, and paico, the herb English calls wormseed; here mint and epazote stand in for them and the intro is the honest place to say so. The potato and a handful of quinoa give the soup its creamy body, so it needs no cream, and a splash of soy milk finishes the richness that fresh cheese and egg would traditionally supply. Aji amarillo carries a gentle warmth through the whole pot, and a squeeze of lime at the end does the work of salt. Blend only half and you keep both a smooth base and something to chew.
Ingredients
- 1 whole Yellow onions, diced
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp Aji amarillo paste
- 1/2 tsp Cumin seed, ground
- 1 lb Potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1/3 cup Quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup Fava beans, frozen, peeled
- 1/2 cup Frozen peas
- 1 tbsp no-salt vegetable bouillon
- 1 cup Cilantro, packed
- 1/2 cup Flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tbsp Epazote, chopped
- 2 tbsp Mint
- 3/4 cup Unsweetened soy milk
- 1 tbsp Lime juice
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
Method
- Sweat the onion and garlic in a pot with 0.25 cup (60 ml) water until soft, about 8 minutes, then stir in the aji amarillo paste and ground cumin and cook one minute. The aji paste is Peru's everyday chile, fruity more than fierce, and giving it a moment in the hot pan wakes up its floral side before the liquid dilutes it.
- Add the potatoes, rinsed quinoa, bouillon, and 4 cups (950 ml) water. Simmer until the potatoes are completely soft and the quinoa shows its little curled germ, about 15 minutes. The potato is the body of this soup and the quinoa is the Andean thickener, so both need to cook fully before anything green goes in.
- Stir in the fava beans and peas and cook 3 minutes, just to heat them through and keep them bright. Favas are the traditional legume of the high sierra and hold their shape here, so they go in near the end rather than boiling to mush.
- Turn off the heat and add the cilantro, parsley, epazote, and mint. Blend about half the soup smooth, either with an immersion blender or a scoop into a jar blender, then stir it back. Huacatay and paico carry the real Cusco version, and mint with epazote stands in for that black-mint and wormseed note; blending only half keeps some potato and favas whole for texture.
- Return the pot to low heat, stir in the soy milk and black pepper, and warm through without boiling. Soy milk brings the creamy richness a cook in Cusco would get from fresh cheese and a beaten egg, plus a little protein, with none of the dairy.
- Take it off the heat, stir in the lime juice, and taste. The acid lifts the herbs and sharpens the whole green bowl in place of salt, so add it at the very end and adjust with a splash more water if the soup has thickened past what you like.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 250 calories, 12 g protein, 9 g fiber, 90 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
