Colombian chicken soup made with chicken thighs and legs, onion, corn, potatoes, cilantro, capers and a special Columbian Ajiaco sauce.
This is our adaptation of a classic Colombian chicken recipe called Ajiaco. The soup hinges on using several different kinds of potatoes, which are native to South America.
The soup is served with a variety of garnishes, including a special salsa, “Aji”, that truly defines the dish.
Ajiaco soup has all sorts of variations, but they all seem to rely on potatoes — some of which are cooked so long they dissolve, thickening the soup — corn (usually on the cob), and chicken.
We decided to finely dice russet potatoes so they would dissolve quickly, and we pureed the soup base with an immersion blender, which saved hours of cooking time.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can either puree the soup base in a blender, or just cook it until the diced potatoes dissolve.
It’s important to use bone-on pieces of chicken here, as they are both cheaper and will make your soup broth more flavorful.
Garnishes are up to you. They almost always include capers, avocados and cilantro, and will often include a salsa or a crema, which, depending on your perspective is either thin sour cream or a thick regular cream.
We used tiny, multi-colored potatoes to finish the dish, but you can use any mix of potatoes — just make sure to not use all russets. Red skinned potatoes, purple potatoes, fingerlings and small Yukon Golds are all good choices.
Colombian Chicken Soup Recipe
- Prep time: 25 minutes
- Cook time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 10 to 12
The real version of this dish requires a special herb called guasca, which is a unique flavor. We added bay leaves to get somewhere close.
Ingredients
Soup Ingredients:
- 3 pounds chicken thighs and legs, skin removed, rinsed well
- 1 large white or yellow onion, chopped
- 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- Salt
- 1 1/2 quarts water
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 pounds small potatoes, of various colors
- 2 ears of fresh corn, cut crosswise into 1-2 inch rounds
Aji Ingredients:
- 4 scallions (white and light green parts only)
- 2 Roma or other plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
- 2 fresh Scotch bonnet or habanero chiles or 2 fresh hot red chiles, stems and seeds removed (wear gloves, do NOT touch your eyes!)
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 3 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
- Garnish: capers, sour cream, avocados, cilantro
Method
1 Cook the chicken, russets, onion, and garlic in stock and water: Put the chicken, diced russet potatoes, chopped onion and garlic in a large (at least 8 quart) stock pot and add 1 1/2 quarts of water and the quart of chicken stock.
Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat to a vigorous simmer.
Add the cumin, bay leaves and salt to taste. Simmer this until the meat wants to fall of the bones of the chicken — anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour, 15 minutes.
2 Remove the chicken and bay leaves and purée some of the soup base: When the chicken is ready, remove it and the bay leaves from the soup and set in a large bowl. If you are going to puree the soup base with an immersion blender or by putting the soup into a regular blender in batches, do so now.
3 Simmer soup base with additional potatoes: Pour the pureed soup base back into the pot and bring to a very gentle simmer. Add the second batch of potatoes and cook until tender, about 20-40 minutes, depending on size.
4 Shred the chicken meat off the bones: While the potatoes are cooking, shred the meat off the chicken bones and set aside.
5 Make the salsa: Pulse all the ingredients in a food processor until they’re finely minced. Transfer to a serving bowl.
6 Cook the corn in the stock: Drop the pieces of corn on the cob into the simmering soup and cook for 5 minutes.
7 Serve: Serve the soup with the salsa, capers, sliced avocados, sour cream, and cilantro in separate bowls. Let people add garnishes to their own servings.
Links:
Ajiaco soup from Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes
A light, spring version of Ajiaco Soup – from Bitchin’ Camero
Sancocho, another Colombian Chicken Soup – from My Colombian Recipes
