If you know anything about Puerto Rican culture, you may have heard of Asopao de Gandules, which is a hearty stew that stems from a bigger family of stews called Asopao. What is it, where did it originate, and how do you make it?
Asopao de Gandules is a Puerto Rican stew that contains pigeon peas, vegetable stock, onions, aji dulce, oregano, cilantro, olive oil, and tomato sauce. Depending on the variation, Asopao de Gandules can also contain ham, rice, and dumplings. It started as a Puerto Rican poor man’s stew.
Asopao de Gandules is a great Puerto Rican dish to consume on a cold night, as it is hearty, warm, and comforting.
This article will cover what Asopao de Gandules is, its history, and will tell you how to make it, so let’s get started.
What Is Asopao de Gandules?
Asopao de Gandules is a type of asopao originating from Puerto Rico.
Asopao is the national soup of Puerto Rico, and the term refers to a family of soups/stews that you can make with vegetables, pork, beef, chicken, shrimp, seafood, or a combination of these as main ingredients.
It is a Puerto Rican vegetable asopao that has pigeon peas as the main ingredient. The stew is very hearty, as it contains ham (optional), chicken stock (or vegetable stock), onions, aji dulce, oregano, cilantro, olive oil, and tomato sauce.
Normally, the pigeon peas replace the rice when making Asopao de Gandules.
However, some people include both rice and peas for extra heartiness, but whether you add rice or not will depend on what variation you are making.
Some recipes also contain dumplings that chefs make from plantains, green bananas, squash, root vegetables, annatto, milk, flour, and eggs.
Again, the recipes can vary, and not all Asopao de Gandules dishes will have dumplings.
When making the traditional Puerto Rican soup, you must wait for the stew to thicken before serving it.
Many chefs serve it hot, but many people put it in the fridge to save it for the next day and heat it before eating.
Asopao de Gandules History
Even though the exact origin of Asopao de Gandules is unknown, we know that Asopao started to circulate in Puerto Rican restaurants around the 19th century.
Some sources also theorize that Spanish paella and American Gumbo dishes influenced the hearty Puerto Rican dish.
Since Asopao de Gandules’ main ingredients are vegetables, many Boricuas would make this dish when their budget is running low, as it is one of the cheapest stews to make.
How To Make Asopao de Gandules
Now that we are more familiar with the dish let’s take a look at how to make it.
There are several variations of Asopao de Gandules.
While some people will throw ham or rice in the stew, we will cover the more traditional version of the dish, which does not contain either ingredient, as we will be making a true vegetarian version of Asopao de Gandules.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- ¼ cup (60 g) chopped culantro or cilantro
- 1 tbsp chopped oregano
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 8 ounces (227 g) green pigeon peas
- 1 diced onion
- 4 cloves chopped garlic
- ¼ cup chopped Aji Dulce (if you don’t have this, use 1/3 cup red bell pepper)
- 4 cups (236.59 each) vegetable broth (divided)
Asopao de Gandules Recipe
- Cover the bottom of a large pot with oil and heat over medium heat.
- Add the green pigeon peas, aji dulce, onion, and garlic.
- Cook the vegetables for about three minutes or until they are soft.
- Add 1 cup of vegetable broth to the pot, then add the oregano and tomato paste.
- Stir the soup until the liquid has almost completely evaporated, which should take five minutes.
- Add the rest of the vegetable broth, then add salt and pepper.
- Turn the temperature to low heat. Let the stew simmer for 15 minutes. Make sure to stir it occasionally.
- Once the vegetables are tender, add the cilantro.
You can store this stew in your fridge for up to three days. When you are feeling like a warm meal, heat it and serve.
You can also add rice and ham to make a more hearty stew. If you want an even tastier meal, add some dumplings.
If you want a more visual example of this recipe (or would like to know how to add rice and ham to the stew), check out the video below.
While the chef uses a recipe that is a bit different, you will be able to follow the basic steps with the recipe listed above:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSXYUQSBdb8
Conclusion
Asopao de Gandules is a Puerto Rican stew that contains pigeon peas, broth, onions, aji dulce, oregano, cilantro, olive oil, and tomato sauce.
Some people will also add rice, ham, and dumplings.
Since this dish is primarily vegetarian, it is a low-budget meal that is easy to make.
While the dish’s origin is unclear, asopao started to appear in restaurants in Puerto Rico during the 19th century.
Consider checking out Most Popular Puerto Rican Recipes – Quick & Easy: A Cookbook of Essential Food Recipes by Grace Barrington-Shaw if you enjoyed this recipe.
Sources
- Taste Atlas: Asopao de Gandules
- Eating Well: Asopao de Gandules
- Wikipedia: Asopao
- The Daily Meal: Asopao de Camarones
- Welcome to Puerto Rico: Puerto Rican Cuisine
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Jorge Garcia is the founder of AmigoFoods, where he has spent over 20 years helping readers discover authentic Latin American and Spanish cuisine. Raised in a Cuban-American household, Jorge learned to cook at the hands of his mother and grandmother, carrying forward generations of family recipes. That heritage, backed by his family’s four-generation history in the Latin food industry, inspired him to launch AmigoFoods in 2003. With more than 1,000 published articles on recipes, ingredients, and food culture, Jorge’s mission is simple: make authentic Latin cooking approachable for home cooks everywhere while honoring the traditions behind every dish.