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Dominica Gourmet

Dominica Gourmet

A blog about foods from Dominica

Dominican Red Beans Soup Recipe

July 8, 2020

Dominica red beans soup
Jump to Recipe

Dominica red beans soup, or as it’s referred to dumpling, peas, and salted pork soup is synonymous with the phrase Dominica’s comfort food. When I think of a signature staple dish on the island, one of the treasured meals that come to mind is the red beans soup. This soup, affectionately and widely known in creole as dumbway, pois, and gel coshion, satisfies any hunger.

My fondest memories of eating red beans soup were when we would prepare it during koolmen or village project collaborations. The older women in the village would source enormous pots and get open fires going to prepare this hearty, flavorful meal.


Dominica’s red beans soup is cooked with salted pig’s snout and tail, or various smoked parts of the pig. While the salted pig’s snout is purchased from local shops or supermarkets, smoking our meat was customary. Growing up, when villagers would kill a pig, the meat would be sold to the rest of the community. Some of the meat would be reserved to be cooked fresh, some locally salted and smoked. However, since I’m not currently on the island, my meat options are limited. I occasionally opt for the store-bought, factory packaged smoked pork whenever I prepare this fav.

Although keeping the recipes authentic helps preserve the tradition, I usually use available or convenient ingredients. Using uncooked kidney beans if the beans of choice, but I often cheat my way through the recipe and use canned beans. It’s faster, convenient, and actually tastes the same regular beans. I also add other staples (provisions) to my soup, like plantain and sometimes yam, when available. Some people actually soak their beans the night before, I used to but since I always cook on demand, I just boil my beans.

Here’s an easy way to prepare Dominica’s red beans soup.

Dominica’s Red Beans Soup

Follow this is a simple dumbway, pois and gel coshion recipe to prepare a hearty red beans soup.
Print Recipe
Cook Time 1 hr
Course Main Course
Cuisine Caribbean
Servings 6

Equipment

  • Large pot

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs Smoked pork (boiled) You can use any salted meat
  • 1 gallon Water You'll need to use 1½ for the dumpling
  • 1 lbs Kidney beans (boiled) Boil the kidney beans with some garlic and oil. You can also use can beans.
  • 24 mixed Dumplings See dumpling recipe below.
  • 2 whole Plantains You can use potatoes, and other provisions
  • 1 teaspoon Black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Paprika
  • I tbsp Garlic (crushed) You can use garlic powder
  • 1½ tbsp Turmeric
  • 4 sprigs Thyme You van also use parsley, and scallions
  • 1 large Onion
  • 1 tbsp Salt You may not need to add salt, since the smoked pork has salt.

Instructions
 

  • Add 1 gallon of water to a large pot
  • Bring to boil.
  • Add beans and let it simmer for 20 minutes. This allows it to soften up a bit more and release more of the red natural colors.
  • Add all ingredients except the plantain and meat and allow it to boil for another 15 minutes. Adding the plantains and meat too early may cause them to over cook.
  • Add the plantains and stir a bit. If the soup is too thick you may add a water as needed.
  • Continue to boil for another 25 minutes.
Keyword beans, dumpling, kidney beans, peas, salted park, smoked pork

Caribbean Dumplings for Soups and Braff

Simple Caribbean recipe
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Caribbean
Servings 6

Equipment

  • mixing bowl

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups Flour
  • 1½ cups Water
  • ½ teaspoon Salt

Instructions
 

  • Mix flour and salt
  • Add water and mix the dough. If you have a food processor, you can use it, or simply use your hands.
  • When dough is fully mixed, cut into desired sizes, roll into balls, flat or long shapes.
  • Add your dumplings to cook in your favorite soup, braff or boil it as a stand alone staple.
Keyword dumplings,, soup

in Dinner, Soups

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Comments

  1. Hyacinth says

    July 8, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    With the red beans soup, must the beans soak overnight?

    Reply
    • admin says

      July 10, 2020 at 3:02 am

      You can soak the beans overnight, but you can also cook with a pressure cooker, or cook it over medium heat for a long time, as I usually do. I cook it with oil and cloves of garlic to help softer it.

      Reply
      • Hyacinth says

        July 10, 2020 at 3:16 am

        Good to know. I have a pressure cooler but have never used it and prefer not to. I have seen some videos of explosions lolol. May be a trial and error but I will try cooking for a long time with the garlic and oil. Thank you šŸ‘šŸ½

        Reply
        • admin says

          July 10, 2020 at 6:57 am

          You’re welcome. Pressure cookers could be dangerous. The newer ones are much safer. Slow cooking helps you control the consistency of the beans as well:-)

          Reply
  2. Sandra Chung-Massicotte says

    July 16, 2020 at 8:55 am

    Looks great my darling, I will try the soup on the weekend. My daughter (Mae-Ling )is a vegan so I will do it without meat.
    Thanks

    Reply
    • admin says

      July 20, 2020 at 2:22 am

      Hi Sandra, nice that she is a vegan. Meatless soup is also great šŸ™‚

      Reply
  3. Phylicia Marcelin says

    February 15, 2021 at 9:13 pm

    I’m definitely going to try this recipe over the weekend. It looks real good.

    Reply
    • admin says

      February 15, 2021 at 10:34 pm

      Hi Phylicia,

      Thanks for stopping by. Please try it! I also love adding a little turmeric in my soup. I’m use it in all my cooking. šŸ™‚

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Dumplings, peas and pig tail soup | A blog about foods from Dominica says:
    September 21, 2020 at 3:32 pm

    […] used the similar dumpling, peas, and pork recipe I added a few weeks ago. See the recipe link here. The only thing I changed was pre-soaking the peas, using pig tail instead of smoked pork.Pig tail […]

    Reply

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Meet Mayma

Sakafete! Growing up in Dominica, food was central to socializing and in abundance. Cooking with my family was one of the highlights of my youth. We grew our produce and raised livestock, which often made it to our kitchen table. With my mother and grandmother's guidance, I discovered my passion for cooking at age 9. We used lots of verbal recipes then. Today, I share those culinary experiences with my children, using the fundamentals of Dominican cooking and making it our own. I'm not a trained cook/chef, however, as I embark on my food journey, I invite you to experience foods from the Caribbean island of Dominica. Let's cook!
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