Egyptian Kolkas Recipe (Taro-Swiss Chard Stew/Soup): قلقاس
Shorbet Kolkas, Egypt’s Swiss chard and taro soup, is a winter superfood and a Coptic Epiphany food tradition. This velvety green soup, featuring tender chunks of buttery taro, is infused with the irresistible aroma of garlic and toasted coriander.
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Ingredients
For Kolkas Recipe
- 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 broth , vegetable or beef broth, (recipe below)
- Juice of 1 lime or lemon
- Taklia, recipe below
- Salt and pepper to taste
The Beef Broth
- 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
Taklia
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Peel the Taro: Don't wash the taro root, or it will be 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.
- 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, and 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 vigorously boil for 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 and discard the spices and collapsed vegetables. Set the meat aside and use the filtered broth in the next step.
- 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. In the meantime, prepare the greens and make the Taklia.
- 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 broth. 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.
- 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 Taklia becomes fragrant and the garlic is crispy and has an orange-hued color. Toss the Taklia immediately into the simmering taro and broth. Taste and adjust the seasoning of the soup.
- Serve: This soup is best served hot, along with vermicelli rice and lemon wedges.
Nermine's 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.