Paraguay: Vori Vori Chicken Soup with Ricotta Dumplings
Known as the “Heart of South America”, Paraguay is lauded as one of the happiest nations on Earth. And it’s not surprising. The people of this very charming country are famous for being friendly, making music, taking a positive outlook on life (no matter what life throws at them), and taking hospitality to the next level. Paraguay is a land-locked nation, yet it is a country of powerful river systems that have served as roads for centuries and give the country a highway to the Atlantic Ocean. It shares a north-western border with Bolivia (which is the only other land-locked country in South America). Other near neighbours include Brazil to the south-west and Argentina to the south.
The cuisine of Paraguay is primarily a fusion of the food practices of the Indigenous Guarani people of Paraguay and the Spanish who colonised the region then married with the Guarani. Secondary influences come from Italian and Portuguese cooking methods that have arrived in Paraguay from neighbouring countries. In 2017, the Ministry of the National Secretariat of Culture of Paraguay declared that the 'Intangible Cultural Heritage of Paraguay' included the handcrafted and traditional production of …Paraguayan meals still in force such as vori-vori…and its recipes…practices and knowledge that are passed down from generation to generation..as.. a cultural manifestation.
So, I felt impelled to honour the cooks of Paraguay
and their living food culture by preparing
Vori-Vori de Pollo
which is an amazing
Chicken Soup with Ricotta Dumplings
………………………………………………………………………
VORI VORI CHICKEN SOUP WITH RICOTTA DUMPLINGS
Ingredients:
· 1 large, whole corn-fed/free-range/organic Chicken
· 1 red capsicum, de-seeded and chopped
· 2 tomatoes, chopped
· 5 garlic cloves, crushed
· 2 onion, diced
· 2 tsp salt
· 1 tsp black pepper
· 1 tbs chopped fresh oregano
· 1 tbs olive oil
· 2 carrots peeled and diced small
· 4 potatoes, peeled and diced small
· 1 tbs chicken flavoured bouillon/stock powder
· ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
· 1 cup cooked corn kernels (or a can of cooked corn kernels, drained)
Ingredients for Vori Vori – Dumplings
· 1 ½ cups fine cornmeal flour
· 100 gm fresh ricotta
· 1 egg, lightly beaten
· 50 gm mozzarella, grated
Method:
1. Wash the chicken inside and out and pat dry with towel
2. Put the chicken in a big pot and cover with 3 litres of water
3. Bring to the boil than turn back to a simmer and cook for an hour, regularly skimming off any froth that gathers at the top
4. If you are cooking a really big chicken and it is not fully submerged, turn it over after 30 minutes to ensure the thighs are cooked through
5. After 1 hour you have a delicious poached chicken and a big pot of really nice chicken broth
6. Carefully remove the chicken from the broth. I say carefully because it could fall apart.
7. I used a medium sized saucepan with a strong handle to scoop the chicken out and then transferred the chicken into a metal colander that was sitting on the top of a pot. This way the chicken drains and the stock is captured to return to the main soup pot
8. Let the chicken set aside to cool and when it can be handled roughly shred the meat off the bone and put it in the refrigerator until needed. I actually used a supper big chicken so was able to save the poached breast meat for sandwiches/salad the next day
9. Put aside ¾ of a cup of the chicken broth to make the Vori Vori dumplings
10. If you only have one big pot, pour your remaining reserved broth into a bowl, wash your pot out and let’s begin the next step
11. Place a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and when hot add the tomato, garlic, onion and capsicum
12. Cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon for around 5 minutes until an aromatic sauce begins to form
13. Add ¼ of the reserved chicken broth, the bouillon powder, salt and pepper and simmer down for about 10 minutes until a bit thickened
14. Add the remainder of the reserved chicken broth (not including the part you saved for the vori vori), stir and bring back to the boil
15. Add the carrots, potato and pepper flakes and simmer for around 20 minutes or until the vegies are cooked through but not mushy
16. While the vegies are cooking make the Vori Vori
17. To make the dumplings you will need a medium size bowl
18. Combine the cornmeal flour, with the ricotta, eggs and mozzarella
19. Now add the ¾ cup of cooled chicken broth you saved earlier and salt and pepper to taste and mix until well combined
20. If necessary, take some more broth from the boiling pot to make a dough
21. Roll the corn dough into marble-sized balls and set aside on a plate
22. When the vegies are cooked add the shredded chicken and corn kernels to the pot and bring back to the boil
23. Add the vori vori balls and simmer the pot for about 5 minutes or until the vori vori float to the surface
24. Now you are ready to serve the soup. Make sure there is an equal amount of vori vori in each bowl; 3 or 4
This is a Q-zine original recipe informed by several, especially two found at:
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