Caldo de Patas

Layla Pujol’s caldo de patas uses beef feet, yuca and cooked mote in a broth finished with peanut butter and milk. She presents this as her Ecuadorian version, served with white rice, avocado slices and ají criollo.

The supplied washed, large-cut beef feet cook in a large pot with fourteen cups of water, the lightly crushed whole garlic cloves, diced red onion, cilantro and parsley sprigs, a pinch of cumin, salt and pepper. The selected slow method simmers them for three hours before the selected frozen yuca is added for another twenty to thirty minutes.

The broth is strained and saved, with some of its fat reserved for the refrito. The yuca’s fibres are removed and it is cut into medium pieces. Bones are removed from the feet, and the remaining meat is cut into small pieces.

Two tablespoons of the retained broth fat heat in a soup pot with the supplied diced white onion, crushed garlic, dried oregano, ground achiote, cumin, salt and pepper. Peanut butter is mixed with milk and stirred into the refrito until dissolved, then the retained broth, foot meat, yuca and prepared cooked mote return to the soup.

The assembled soup simmers for twenty to twenty-five minutes. Supplied finely chopped cilantro and scallions finish it, and the selected white rice, avocado slices and ají criollo accompany the bowls.