Cuban Banana Soup

I had this soup at a restaurant in Curacao many years ago. I eventually came across the recipe below, which is the soup that I had.

Ingredients

• 50g butter
• 4 very ripe (black) plantains, peeled and roughly chopped
• 100g leeks, roughly chopped
• 150g carrots, roughly chopped
• 75g red onion, roughly chopped
• 1250ml water
• 25g powdered chicken stock
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 1 bay leave
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 small Scotch Bonnet Chili, whole, pierced onto a bamboo skewer
• 200ml heavy whipping cream
• 200ml coconut milk
• 200ml orange juice
• ground black pepper & salt

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a large stock pot over medium heat and add the plantain, leek, carrot, onion and celery. Cover with a lid and let the vegetables sweat for 5 minutes while stirring occasionally.
2. Add the water, chicken stock, celery, rosemary, thyme, bay leave, spices, sugar and chili. Stir well and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 1 hour.
3. Take the soup of the heat and remove the rosemary, thyme, bay leave and chili. Let stand until cool enough to handle and puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Add the cream, coconut milk and orange juice and stir to combine. Put back on the heat and season to taste with pepper and salt. Divide the soup over 4 bowls and garnish with a fried plantain chip and some chopped parsley.

Notes

If you have time, make the soup 1 day before and leave it in the fridge overnight for the flavors to develop.