Hervido de Gallina (Venezuelan Chicken and Vegetable Soup)
A clear, fragrant chicken broth served over corn, yuca, potatoes, carrots and pumpkin, steamed in the Varoma.
Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.
Hervido is the big Sunday soup of Venezuela: a clear, golden broth full of chicken and chunky vegetables like corn on the cob, yuca, potatoes, carrots and pumpkin, finished with plenty of cilantro. It is traditionally made with an older hen, a gallina, which gives the dish its name, and it is the soup people crave on a rainy day or when someone needs looking after.
With the Thermomix® TM7™, the work happens on two levels: the chicken simmers on reverse in a broth of onion, leek, celery and garlic in the bowl, while the vegetables steam in the Varoma on top. Chicken drumsticks cook in the same time as the vegetables. Then you build each bowl with vegetables and chicken and ladle the hot broth over them.
Made in the Thermomix® TM7™
Hervido de Gallina (Venezuelan Chicken and Vegetable Soup)
Makes: 4 large bowls
- Prep20 min
- Cook55 min
- Total1 h 15 min
- Serves4
Ingredients
For the broth
For the Varoma
To serve
Instructions
- Place the onion, leek, celery, garlic and ají dulce in the mixing bowl and chop 5 sec/speed 5. Scrape down the sides, add the oil and sauté 5 min/120°C (250°F)/speed 1.
- Add the drumsticks, water, salt, bay leaf and cilantro sprigs and close the mixing bowl lid.
- Place the yuca, potatoes and carrots in the Varoma dish and the corn and calabaza on the Varoma tray. Set the Varoma in position and steam 40 min/Varoma/reverse/speed soft.
- Check the vegetables with the tip of a knife. If the yuca is still firm, steam 10 min/Varoma/reverse/speed soft more. The chicken should reach 74°C (165°F) near the bone.
- Set the Varoma aside, covered. Remove the bay leaf and cilantro sprigs, add the 250 g of hot broth to the mixing bowl and heat 3 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft. Taste for salt.
- Divide the vegetables and chicken among 4 deep bowls, ladle the hot broth over them and top with chopped cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.
Tips
- If you find a stewing hen (gallina) at a Latin market, it gives a deeper broth, but it needs about 2 hours of simmering on the stove before the vegetables go in.
- Add ñame or malanga (ocumo) to the Varoma with the yuca if you find them at Sedano's; they are classic in hervido.
- Store the broth and vegetables separately in the fridge for up to 3 days. The broth also freezes well for 3 months.
