Caribbean Corn Soup: The most popular street food in Trinidad

In today's post I have something of a treat; Trini style Corn Soup. Corn soup is real liming food in Trinidad; be it at a football game, Carnival, Panorama, a fete (all inclusive) or just a Friday evening lime with your friends, this creamy soup is a crowd favourite. I remember after work sometimes I would look for a corn soup man to buy a cup of piping hot delicous soup made with corn and slowly sip on my way home. But this soup is not only considered street food, it is also a main dish like all the other soups we make.

Now some of you might be saying “soup a main dish?”; our Caribbean soups are usually thick with lots of ingredients like ground provision and dumplings and because of this, it is considered a whole meal so as we say in Trini ” if yuh eat too much, yuh belly go buss”. Corn soup is no different; it has lots of ingredients, a lot of taste and filling as well. Of course everyone have their own twist and preferences in making this dish also, some people add coconut milk, cream style corn, pig tail (like me), or other meats…some even do a hybrid cow heel-corn soup that tastes just as well.

By now you know I will tell you to experiment with the dish; I still believe that the taste buds rule when it comes to cooking. So don't be afraid to experiment. Here's Trini style Corn Soup.

CORN SOUP

1 cup split peas
1 cup channa (garbanzo), soaked overnight
6 – 8 cups water
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 chive stalk
1 celery stalk
2 pimento peppers
4 ears of corn
1 carrot
1 cup pumpkin
1 pk vegetable soup1 hot pepper. (optional)
3 bouillon cubes (optional)
salt to taste
For dumpling:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
water

Related:
A Delicious Homemade Coconut Ice Cream

Direction:

Prepare the channa and split peas. Wash the channa and pressure cook for about 15 minutes. Also, pressure cook the split peas separately for about 10 minutes. The channa and split peas would also cook quickly, without pressure cooking, if it was soaked overnight.

Knead the dough for the cornmeal dumpling to a semi-stiff dough, and cut into ½” pieces. Set aside.

Clean and chop the corn into 1 – 2″ pieces (notice the technique; just press down the point of the knife between the kernnel).

Chop up the rest of ingredients (carrots, pimento, chive, celery, pumpkin) and add to pot of water.

When boiling, add corn, dumplings, split peas and channa and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes or until the corn is cooked and the dumplings float to the surface. Stir occasionally.

This pot of corn soup looks just about done. Serve hot. Another delicious post has come to an end, as they all do. Bye for now.


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Corn Soup

Course Soups
Cuisine Caribbean, creole
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Author Felix (Simply Trini Cooking)

Ingredients

  • cup split peas
  • 1 cup channa garbanzo
  • 6 – 8 cups water
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 chive stalk
  • 1 celery stalk
  • 2 pimento peppers
  • 4 ears of corn
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 cup pumpkin
  • 1 pk vegetable soup
  • 1 hot pepper. optional
  • 3 bouillon cubes optional
  • Salt to taste about 1/4 tsp
  • FOR DUMPLING:
  • ¼ cup flour
  • ¼ cup cornmeal
  • water
Related:
A Simple Meal: Dosti Roti and Curry Aloo

Instructions

  • Wash the channa and pressure cook for about 15 minutes. Pressure cook the split peas for about 10 minutes.
  • Knead the dough for the cornmeal dumpling to a semi-stiff dough, and cut into 1/2″ pieces. Set aside.
  • Clean and chop the corn into 1 -2″ pieces ( technique; just press down the point of the knife into the corn)
  • Chop up the rest of ingredients (carrots, pimento, chive, celery, pumpkin) and add to pot of water.
  • When boiling, add corn, dumplings, split peas and channa and allow to simmer for about 20 mins or until the corn is cooked and the dumplings float to the surface. Stir occasionally.
  • Serve hot.

24 thoughts on “Caribbean Corn Soup: The most popular street food in Trinidad”

  1. What’s not to like in this soup with all those yummy vegetables. I have never had whole corn ears before. The only way we eat them is by grilling them. I suppose they have to be extra tender to cook them because the ones we get are woody in the core.

    1. mizenglish,
      I am with you, in that some of the ingredients is hard to come by. I used cream style corn (pureed some green seasoning I made). I use 1 can but pureed 3/4 and later added the rest of the can in the soup. No pumpkin, no chana in mine. Chicken stock and milk to replace some of the water and baking powder in the dumplings to make it lighter and cook faster.

      When I realized I did not have all the ingredients, the Trini in me started to improvise. We function best under pressure and with little supply. The soup is a hit with my girlfriend and all our international friends. They can’t get enough of the Trini hand.

  2. Hi there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that it is really informative. Lots of people will surely benefit from your food writing. Cheers! 🙂

  3. Your site and recipes are simply awesome! It’s my “go-to” for all the homeade recipes that I never made before. Thank you!

  4. I LOVE your website and recipes! Please keep cooking and sharing. What are my options if I do not have a pressure cooker? Could I buy the peas in a can instead? Or will I still need a pressure cooker?

    1. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, the channa (chick peas) and split peas will take a long time to cook. Soak them overnight in hot water then cook the next day. Or, just get a pressure cooker. Thanks for visiting Chef JD.

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