Sopa De Pata, also known as Caldo De Pata, is a traditional Salvadorian cow’s feet soup dish. You might squirm a little bit at the thought of using cow feet in a soup, but it’s really not that strange. Especially in comparison to some of the other weird dishes we’ve discovered around the world.
Sopa de pata is a hearty, comforting Salvadorian soup that is also eaten throughout different parts of Latin America such as in Ecuador.
Similar to the Colombian egg milk soup and other popular Latin American soups, it is considered to be a hangover cure due to its comforting qualities, and one of the best Hispanic soups in the world.
This recipe also contains tripe, which is cow’s stomach, as it is very common in developing countries to utilise all the different parts of an animal when cooking. There is a culinary consensus in more developing countries about not wasting anything.
There is great variance about the ingredients used in Sopa De Pata, depending on where you try it.
Even in the same regions there can be a variety of differences! However, typically the main ingredients of Sopa De Pata are cow’s feet, yuca, tripe, hominy, cilantro and other vegetables.
Sopa De Pata (Cow’s Feet Soup) Recipe
Sopa de pata is hearty, comforting Salvadorian soup that is also eaten throughout different parts of Latin America such as Ecuador.
Ingredients
- 3 lb Beef feet
- 3 lb Beef tripe Cut into chunks
- 1 lb Yuca
- 3 Sticks Celery
- 4 Carrots
- 6 Cloves Garlic Crushed
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 2 Red onions Diced
- 3 Sprigs Cilantro
- 1 tsp Achiote
- 3 Sprigs Parsley
- 4 Cups Hominy Cooked
- 1 Cup Milk
- 4 tbsp Peanut butter
- Salt and pepper To taste
Instructions
- Add the cows feet whole and beef tripe into and into a large pot with the celery, garlic, onion cilantro, parsley and cumin on a low heat. Leave to cook for around 3 hours until the meat is tender.
- Add in peeled and chopped yuca and carrots, and let it cook for a further 30 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat, strain the broth and remove the cows feet. Ensure to save the broth for later.
- Chop the cows feet to remove the bones and cut the yuca up into chunks.
- Next make a base for the soup using the grease from the broth, just a few tablespoons should do in a separate pot on a medium heat.
- Add in onions, garlic, oregano, achiote, cumin, salt and pepper to taste.
- Now stir in the peanut butter along with the milk, ensuring to stir well.
- Next add the cow feet, the tripe, yuca, cooked hominy and the broth to the pot and leave to simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes.
- Serve each portion garnished with chopped cilantro.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1240Total Fat: 73gSaturated Fat: 28gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 35gCholesterol: 315mgSodium: 635mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 5gSugar: 5gProtein: 97g
So there you have it, that is how to make Sopa De Pata/Caldo De Pata using a traditional, authentic recipe.
The beef feet might be a little difficult to find in most supermarkets but you can always ask your local butcher who may be able to help you out.
Watch: How to Make Sopa De Pata
There are so many variations on cooking Sopa De Pata with a range of possible ingredients you can use. Check out this video with a few differences from the recipe above:
It’s good to experiment to find out what ingredients work best for your palette. But don’t leave out the cow’s feet, they’re the main bit!
Photo credit: Mima