Shorbet Kolkas or Egyptian Swiss-Chard Taro soup is an iconic winter superfood. While Egyptians cook Kolkas throughout winter, copts traditionally cook on January 19th to celebrate Coptic Epiphany. Shorbet Kolkas is a velvety deep green soup , studded with buttery diced taro, and scented with a wafting garlicky scent laced with toasted coriander, so let us dig in.

What is Coptic Epiphany 

There is one last Coptic (Christian Egyptian) feast to celebrate in January!

On January 19th, every year, Copts or Christian Egyptians celebrate Epiphany, the remembrance day of Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan river by Johny midnight,  the baptist. Two days prior to the feast, Copts abstain from eating meat and dairy products, and on January 18th, they break the fasting with Shorbet Kolkas.

The Food Tradition of Shorbet Kolkas 

A deep-rooted Coptic tradition mandates that Copts should eat three things on Epiphany Feast: Kolkas (Swiss-Chard Taro Soup, sugar cane, and oranges.

An interesting analogy is behind the association between Epiphany and Shorbet Kolkas (Swiss Chard-Taro soup)  as Taro or Kolkas (derived from the Latin name Colocasia esculenta) has an unattractive, thick, and stiff skin, that hides a white, pristine flesh.

The coptic narrative suggests that this muddy skin of Taro (Kolkas) resembles the sinful nature of humans that belies the Christian soul before baptism. Yet once the skin is peeled away and the flesh is immersed in hot soup to simmer, Kolkas shows up its best qualities, which alludes to baptism. Additionally, The greens mixed into the soup such as the Swiss chard and cilantro, symbolize the new life of a Christian after baptism.

Taro and head in Arabic (kolkas and rass) rhyme together, so the Egyptian joke goes that those who don’t eat kolkas (taro soup) will wake up the next day be-doun rass (beheaded).

Shorbet Kolkas’ Health Benefits 

Taro is a great source of fiber and offers a variety of significant health benefits, including improved blood sugar management, gut and heart health. Click here to read more about taro health benefits.

The nutrients in fiber-rich  Egyptian Shorbet Kolkas are amped up when they are mixed with superfood deep green leaves and rich broth, loaded with anti oxidants.

To finish up the soup, a paste of minced garlic (natural antibiotic) and ground coriander is fried in sizzling ghee and added to the simmering soup. This mixture is called Taklia  (resembles the Indian Tarka) and it takes any dish to a whole new level of deliciousness.

Shorbet Kolkas’ Success Secrets 

To achieve the velvety texture, wafting aroma and denting memory of Shorbet Kolkas,  heed to some subtle yet powerful elements that take this soup to the next level:

a. Good Quality Broth

For the broth, I personally prefer to use homemade beef broth.  Alternatively, you can either use homemade or low-sodium store-bought vegetable..  For what it is worth, chicken broth is my least favorite broth to use in this dish, it alters the flavors and does’t marry well with many of this dish ingredients.

b. Fresh Greens Cooked to Perfection

To cook the greens, first blend the Swiss chard, fresh cilantro, and dill (optional) with 1 cup of broth, run the mixture through a fine mesh sieve, add the green liquid to the rest of the broth and let it simmer.  Add the Taro cubes to the simmering soup.

Now, cook the solids. In a frying pan, add the ghee (or a mixture of butter and oil) over low heat, once it sizzles, add the crushed garlic, crushes coriander and the green solids and cook for 2-3 minutes, until it’s fragrant. Add this garlic-greens’ solids and coriander to the Taro soup, adjust the seasoning. When the diced Taro becomes soft and fork tender turn off the heat.

Blend the stock and the green leaves in the blender.

Squeeze the liquid out.

On medium heat, cook the greens in the sizzling butter and the crushed garlic.

Add the crushed coriander once the greens start to darken in garlic.

C. Slime-Free Taro Cubes 

Taro is notorious for being too slimy, hard to clean, cut or eat enjoyably, yet you will learn down here, how to handle best this unusual produce.

Never wash the taro before peeling and slicing it, as the water will embolden further the sliminess and it would be imposible to cease it properly to cut it.

For a firmer grip, place a wet towel under the cutting board and use a sharp knife and gloves hands to cut it. . Cut off first the end, to create a base and anchor for Taro. Then peel the skin in strips like you do with a water melon. Start with removing the two ends of the Taro (see the photo below) and then peel away the skin in horizontal stripes.

Slice the taro to thick to 2” disks and then dice each disk to a 1/2” X 1/2 ” cubes.

The best way to rid the taro if its sliminess, is to soak the Taro cubes in iced water overnight in the fridge. Then rinse the next day, under running tap water before you add it to the simmering Swiss chard soup

Don’t let it boil more than 5 minutes on low heat so it doesn’t get too mushy.

Raw Taro (Colcasia)

Cut the ends and then peel horizontally the skin.

Slice and then dice.

Soak in cold water overnight in the fridge

Frozen Okra Versus Fresh Okra 

Frozen okra is legit!

Fresh Taro is the best, yet it is hard to find it in many geographic regions.

Your best bet is the Chinese market, as it sells a taro breed that is almost identical to the Egyptian one. Yet, if you can’t find any, then head to the Middle Eastern grocery stores, and grab a bag of frozen okra.

Frozen okra

For full transparency, Frozen okra has a slightly different texture, when cooked in broth, compared with the fresh one. It is close but it is not the same.

If you crust two cubes of okra cooked in the same broth, one is of frozen origin and the latter made of fresh taro, you will find that the first collapses into strings, the second become like a flattened cube of butter at room temperature.

Having said that, the taste is quite close. Make sure to defrost the frozen okra overnight in the fridge so avoid a degradation of the texture.

Cooking the frozen okra is the same, you just add it to the simmering broth. However, frozen okra takes more cooking time in the broth. Just don’t walk away and keep an eye so it doesn’t overcook.

Bouillon Cubes Versus Made-From-Scratch Broth  

Using bouillon cubes as a shortcut for a made-from-scratch broth is also possible to save you money, time  and energy.

Making meat broth from scratch hands you plenty of control over the flavors that goes in, yet the market is teeming with organic, low sodium and good quality bouillon cubes as well that you can possibly swap in.

What is Taklia

Taklia is an old Egyptian cooking technique where minced garlic and ground coriander are stirred in sizzling ghee (or a mixture of butter and oil), until the mixture becomes fragrant, and then it is added to a simmering soup of stew.

In this recipe of Shorbet Kolkas, the greens solid after squeezing their liquid out, are added to hot ghee on medium heat along with a paste of minced garlic-ground coriander (watch video below). Once that concoction become fragrant, we added to the simmering kolkas broth.

In addition to Shorbet Kolkas, this technique is used to amp up the flavor of the iconic soup Molokhia. 

In the case of using vegetable stock as a base for this soup, it becomes a full-fledged vegetarian dish with a high nutritious value.

Freezer & Make Ahead Tips 

I suggest breaking the workload on two days.

Day #1

• Peel the taro, cube it, and place it in cold water in the fridge overnight.
• In case you are using homemade broth, make it a day in advance.

Day #2

• Assemble the dish. In a heavy bottom pan, heat the broth on low medium heat. Add the green water (retained from draining the blended greens) and let it boil for 3-5 minutes.
• Simultaneously, in a shallow frying pan, add the greens’ solids, and add the butter and crushed garlic. Once it sizzles, stir in the crushed garlic and then add coarsely crushed coriander and keep stirring. Once that mix becomes fragrant, mix it into the simmering soup.

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Kolkas (Egyptian Taro-Swiss Chard Soup)

6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

For Shorbet Kolkas 

• 2  medium taro, diced into 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch
• 4 sprigs chard and/or spinach
• 2 sprigs fresh cilantro, only the leaves
• 1 1/2 liters of both 1 cup, vegetable or beef broth, (recipe below)
• Juice of 1 lime or lemon
• Taklia (recipe below)
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Beef Broth (see notes)

• 500 grams of cubed eye round or top round
• 2 tablespoons  ghee or 1 tablespoon ghee + 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 mastic resin
• 5 cardamom pods
• 10 whole peppercorn
• 1 quartered medium onion
• 3-5 garlic cloves
• 5 allspice berries
• 2 liters boiling water

For the Taklia 

• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 2 tablespoons ground coriander
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Peel the Taro: Don’t wash the taro root, or it will too slimy to handle. With gloved hands and a sharp knife, peel the taro horizontally, then slice it in 1 inch thickness, dice the slices and then soak them in the fridge overnight or no less than 5 hours to get rid of its sliminess.
2. Make the beef broth: Add the ghee to a hot pan, toss in the whole spices and toast them in the hot fat for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Sear in the hot ghee the garlic, quartered onions followed by the meat cubes, Keep flipping the meat cubes on all sides until they have a nice golden crust. Add 2 liters of boiling water. Crank up the heat  and let the broth vigorousily boil of 5 minutes and then lower the heat and let the meat cook and the broth reduce for 90 minutes.  When the meat becomes fork tender, run the broth through a fine mesh sieve, discard the spices and collapsed vegetables. Set the meat aside and use the filtered broth in the next step.
3. Cook the Taro: Heat the broth in a heavy bottom pan, when it starts simmering, add the diced Taro and the juice of 1/2 lemon or 1/2 lime. Let the taro cook in the simmering soup, on medium-low until it is fork tender. For the meantime prepare the greens and make the Taklia.
4. Prepare the greens: Remove the stems, and keep the leaves of the Swiss chard and fresh cilantro. In a blender, blend the greens’ leaves with 1/2 cup of btock. Run the blended greens through a fine mesh sieve, add the green extract liquid to the remaining simmering broth and keep the solids to cook with the Taklia.
5. Prepare the Taklia:  Heat the ghee in a frying pan over low heat, add the greens’ solids, cook until the solids become fragrant, add the crushed coriander and minced garlic and stir for one minute. Once the talkie becomes fragrant and the garlic is crispy and have an orange hued color. Toss the talkie immediately to the simmering taro and broth.  Taste and adjust the seasoning of the soup.
6. Serve: This soup is best served hot, along with vermicelli rice and lemon wedges.

NOTES:

• Don’t wash the Taro before cubing it as the water makes the skin too slimy to grab and peel away.
• To sharpen the taste of the soup, it is possible to add a cube of beef or vegetable bouillon.
• Instead of making the beef broth from scratch, you can use a good quality of organic and low sodium beef bouillon and it will work just fine.
•  You can create an easy vegan version of this soup by using vegetable oil instead of butter and vegetable broth instead of beef bone broth.