Souper Tuesday: Biltong Soup

30 Jul 2024

Biltong, coriander seeds, onion – that’s a perfect flavour combination. And biltong makes a great soup for a chilly winter’s day redolent of farmhouse kitchens and Labradors at the hearth.

Coriander seeds go so well with biltong that to my mind it’s one of the most perfect flavour matches that I know of. Biltong does not get all of its charm from just the dried beef; without that coriander hit, it wouldn’t be half as good.

But there’s the other coriander too: the leaf. And, once the leaf is included in a recipe, the mind might well wander to coconut cream, which goes as well with coriander leaves as the seeds go with biltong.

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Black pepper is also important, although, because it’s biltong, you need to have a careful hand with the salting.

Obviously, this soup needs onion and garlic as well, and a suitable stock. I used chicken, but vegetable broth would be perfect too.

So, here’s one that employs the leaves and seeds and coconut cream, for a biltong soup with a difference.

Ingredients

(Serves 2 as supper, or 4 as a starter)

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 heaped tsp ground coriander seeds

2 Tbs salted butter

500 ml chicken stock (or vegetable)

160 g finely grated biltong

1 x 400 g can coconut cream

Generous handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped finely

200 ml cream

Pepper to taste

Method

Simmer chopped onions and garlic in butter until caramelised. Add finely ground coriander seeds and stir over the heat for two or three minutes.

Add chicken stock and bring to a boil, stir in the very finely ground biltong and then simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the coconut cream (not coconut milk) and add the chopped coriander leaves, and bring back to a simmer. Season with black pepper and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes or so, stirring and being sure it does not boil over.

Stir in the cream and cook for 3 or 4 minutes more on a low heat.

Beware of salting as biltong is already salty. Taste first and then add as necessary.

Garnish soup bowls with fresh coriander leaves and a few shavings of biltong. DM

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Writer 2023, jointly with TGIFood columnist Anna Trapido. Order his book, foodSTUFF, here

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

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