A Taste of Costa Rica

Costa Rican Sopa Negra with rice, avocado, radish, salsa and patacones (fried smashed green plantain)

A dive into Costa Rican dishes that would be suitable for vegans and vegetarians brought me to this simple dish of Sopa Negra with rice, avocado, radish, salsa and patacones.  Let's start with the Patacones - fried smashed green plantain which is a Costa Rican dish = but also found in Columbia.

Rice, avocado, radish, salsa, patacones (fried smashed green plantain)

Patacones (serves 8)

Ingredients

2 Large green plantains
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt to taste

Instructions
1. Peel the plantains and cut cross-wise into 1/2"/just over 1 cm slices
2. In a medium heavy pot, add enough vegetable oil to cover the plantain slices and heat the oil over medium high heat.
3. Add the plantain slices to the heated oil in a single layer and fry for about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
4. Remove from the oil and allow to drain on plate with kitchen paper.
5. Cool for about 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Sandwich the plantain slices between layers of baking/greaseproof paper and with a saucepan press or 'smash' the plantain thinning the slices to about 1/4"/0.7 cm
7. Add the slices back to the hot oil in single layer and fry for 3 minutes on each side.
8. Again remove from the hot oil and drain on kitchen paper, and sprinkle with salt.

Costa Rican Sopa Negra with rice mixed in and a topping of salsa, avocado, and radish

Sopa Negra (Costa Rican Black Bean Soup)

I adapted this from Costa Rica Guide website which features some non-vegan ingredients but leaving out the meat stock and eggs does not detract from this wholesome, tasty dish. The dish seems to share many characteristics of sopa de frijoles negros cubana (Cuban black bean soup), Moros y Cristianos , or feijoada (Brazilian black bean stew) which perhaps shows how the black turtle bean is so synonymous with central and south american cuisine. 

This black bean soup which is flavoured with red bell pepper and coriander and works perfectly with plain boiled rice, and additions of a chilli salsa, avocado and radish.


Ingredients

1 onion -  finely chopped
1 clove of garlic crushed/chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped in to very small pieces
1 tin of black beans or the rough equivalent of dried beans, soaked overnight and boiled until soft (preserve the water you cook them in)
Vegetable stock cube or about 1 tbsp of vegetable stock
Olive or rapeseed oil
Handful of finely chopped coriander/cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1. If you are using dried beans, after soaking, boil for a few hours until they are very soft but don't throw away the water. Get a potato masher and crush some of the beans as well as you can, this will make the soup a bit thicker and add to the colour. Simmer for 15-20 mins.
2. In a large pan, use a little oil and saute the onion, then add the garlic and half the pepper. Then add the beans and their some of the water (applies for both if using tin or the dried beans). You may need some extra water to keep the mixture soup like
3. Crush some of the beans if you have not done so before. Add half the coriander/cilantro and bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20mins.
4. Add the rest of the pepper and coriander/cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Simmer for another couple of minutes and the soup is ready to eat.

To serve ladle the soup into a bowl and serve the rice, and extra toppings like salsa, avocado (just mashed an avocado with lemon juice and salt and pepper) and radish alongside. Leave to your guests to tip the rice into the soup and eat with other toppings.


For the dessert I made these light pancakes made with fresh corn called chorreadas.  Normally it is served for breakfast or lunch or just as a snack. I made the sweet variety but they can also be savory.

Cooking the vegan chorreadas

Vegan chorreadas

Ingredients
1 cups fresh corn (about 2 to 3 ears of corn or tinned corn)
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup plain flour
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tbsp vegan butter
up to 1/4  cup vegan milk (almond, or oat)
Vegan butter to cook

Instructions

1. Make the flax seed egg but combining the ground flax seeds and adding some water so that it is like a thick batter.  Leave for about 5 minutes.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor bar the vegan milk.  Then add the vegan milk a little at a time to make a batter. 
3. In a hot frying pan lightly oil and using a ladle pour in the batter to form small round pancakes.
4. Fry for a couple minutes and then tip over and fry for  a couple more minutes
5. Serve warm with a syrup like agave if you want a very sweet version.  I found that they were very sweet so did not need any extra sweetness. 

There is a savory version as well by taking out the sugar and replacing with salt.  You can add cream cheese or grated hard cheese of you choice.

Viviana (a chef from Costa Rica) shows how to make a non-vegan version with the aid of a great band behind her.