Soup STORIES
BEANS & BONES
Janet Bongekile Sithole
B&B aka beans-and-bones soup is one of my standard go-tos on a cold day. It’s delicious! My dad used to make it and, since he loved chillies, he always added a few extra. I had always thought of this as ‘normal’ food until years later when I worked in a store where bones were sold as bones for dogs. It didn’t make sense to me, because bones were part of our meals at home. I suppose that’s when I was introduced to how the other half lives.
Fast forward a few years and retailers have caught on that bones actually serve as proper meals in some homes and they no longer are sold in the pet-food section. Instead, bones now have a prominent place in the meat section. Even Woolies sells bones these days. We’ve come a long way.
•Dry beans
• Bones (lamb or beef)
• Onions, roughly chopped
• Garlic
• Chillies (optional)
• Rosemary
• Turmeric
• Curry powder
• Salt
Cook the beans for 1 hour. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the salt, and simmer for 1 hour. (Adding salt to beans or any legumes at the start will result in hard beans.) Season to taste and serve with ujeqe, or steamed bread. (Turn to page 82 for a recipe.)
PHO
Alvin Andrews
As Asian cuisine is my number-one go-to, I thought I would share this Vietnamese noodle soup. Pho (pronounced ‘fur’) is a classic Vietnamese dish enjoyed all over the country.
Start by making clear beef both from beef bones, brisket and short ribs, and slow-cooking it twice over low heat. This soup gets its flavour from the broth, which is the base of a good pho. You could also use oxtail to get that extra umami flavour.
After cooking it the first time, drain the stock and wash the bones and meat of all impurities. Then slow-cook it again, this time adding toasted star anise, cloves, black or green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, fish sauce,
