Cuban Black Bean Soup

What is Cuban food? That’s the question I’ve been trying to answer these last 3 weeks and I’m still not sure I have it down. There’s the popular Cubano sandwich with so many variations that I’m not sure which is the original. (And should I care when they all sound so good?) Cubans seem to be fond of roasted pork, which they marinate in citrus, garlic, and cumin. I’ve done that, but I didn’t know it was Cuban. It was vaguely labeled “Carribean-inspired pork.” Mojo and sofrito are also words associated with Cuban cuisine, but they’re different from the Spanish versions. And despite popular belief, chilies and cilantro are not typically used in Cuban cuisine, although they are ingredients commonly found in other cuisines of the region. So how’s a girl supposed to sort it all out?

I did say soup, right? Well, it is a soup but I just ladled it over rice!

Overwhelmed (and underwhelmed) with all the information on the Interwebs, I just decided to "wing it", as they say, and cobbled together a recipe for black bean soup. It's got all the necessary components, like sofrito, cumin and bay leaf. It's also quite tasty, if I do say so myself.

Cuban Black Bean Soup

• 1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1/2 head garlic (approx 5 cloves), crushed
• approx 1/2 to 1 tbs cumin seed
• approx 1 tbs chopped oregano (thyme will also work)
• 2 to 3 bay leaves
• 2 cups black beans, soaked overnight
• 1 large ham hock (optional)

Make a sofrito by throwing the bell pepper, onion and garlic into a food processor and pulsing until you get a uniform mixture. In a large pot, add a couple of healthy glugs of olive oil (approx 3 tbs). When it’s hot, add the cumin seed followed by the sofrito. Cook until the sofrito gets soft and most of the moisture has evaporated, about 10 minutes or so. Add the oregano and bay leaf. Add the beans (rinsed), ham hock (if using) and about 6 cups of water or chicken stock. The beans should be covered by the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer until the beans are tender. Once the beans are tender, add salt to taste.

I used a pressure cooker, which took 20 minutes once it got up to pressure (15 psi) and allowed the pressure to release naturally. The beans came out perfectly tender as did the ham hock. I served the beans and shredded ham hock over long grain rice. It may not look like much, but I’ll tell you, this was a very delicious and comforting meal.

This is my submission to Regional Recipes. The spotlight's on Cuba. If you've got a Cuban recipe you're dying to share, I'm hosting and will accept submissions until Thursday. And definitely check back for the roundup at the end of the week.