How to make caldo verde, a hearty Portuguese soup, using Chinese kale or curly kale
Kale, a leafy superfood, is nutritious and delicious in a Portuguese soup or a simple salad. Use Chinese kale for the soup if you can't find curly kale.
Kale is one of the latest ingredients to be dubbed a “superfood” and, as such, is very fashionable. Unlike superfoods such as the wolfberry (kei chi) – which is fine as an ingredient but doesn’t have enough flavour to eat on its own – kale is not just good for you, it can be delicious, too, if prepared correctly.
I’ve eaten many versions of caldo verde and they have varied considerably. Some had a lot of meat, such as ham and sausage, others used only a tiny amount, as a seasoning. Sometimes the caldo verde was thick with puréed potatoes and vegetables, other times it was light, although still deeply flavoured.
The first time I tested this recipe, I used imported curly kale, but when I tried to make it for another occasion I couldn’t find the vegetable in any supermarkets, so I made it with Chinese kale (kai lan). It was delicious – and I don’t think a thrifty Portuguese grandmother would protest too much at the substitution.
After all, caldo verde isn’t an haute-cuisine soup; it’s just simple, hearty and delicious.
About 30ml cooking oil
1 medium-sized onion
2 garlic cloves
300 grams curly kale or Chinese kale
325 grams potatoes
100 grams Portuguese chouriço or Spanish chorizo
About 400ml unsalted chicken stock, preferably home-made
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil or rendered chouriço/chorizo
fat (from pan-frying the sausage), for drizzling
Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Cut the chouriço/chorizo into slices about 3mm thick and put the pieces into an unoiled skillet. Place the skillet over a medium-low heat and cook until the chouriço/chorizo is lightly browned. Turn the pieces over and brown the other sides, then turn off the flame.
Heat the oil in a medium-sized soup pan, add the onion and garlic and season lightly with salt. Cook over a low flame until the onion is wilted and starting to soften. Add 300ml of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook until almost tender.
If using Chinese kale, stir in the sliced stalks and simmer until tender. (If you like, you can purée some or all of the solids in the soup, which will make it thicker. Put the puréed soup back into the skillet and proceed with the recipe.) Add the leaves (whether leafy or Chinese kale) and stir until they wilt.
Add the chouriço/chorizo to the pan and heat until simmering. If the soup is too thick, add more chicken stock. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then ladle the soup into bowls. Drizzle each portion with a little extra-virgin olive oil, or a few drops of the rendered chouriço/chorizo fat.
12 shell-on medium-sized shrimp (with bodies about 6cm long)
60 grams thickly sliced pancetta, with the rind removed
120ml olive oil
4-6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
200 grams leafy kale
About 20ml fresh lemon juice
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Lemon wedges for squeezing
Remove the heads from the shrimp (they can be used to make stock). Trim off and discard the legs and antennae from the shrimp. Cut the shrimp down the back through the shell and remove and discard the vein. If the kale leaves are very large, tear them into halves or quarters.
Cut the pancetta into pieces about 5mm wide.
Put them into a large, unoiled skillet and set it over a medium flame. Cook the pancetta until it starts to brown, stirring often. Remove it from the pan, but leave behind the fat. Pour the olive oil into the skillet and add the garlic. Set the skillet over a medium flame and heat, stirring often, until the garlic is medium brown. Use a slotted spoon to remove the garlic from the oil.
Turn the flame under the skillet to high. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp and a sprinkling of salt.
Sauté the shrimp quickly, cooking them until they curl and turn pink. When they’re cooked, use tongs to remove them from the skillet. Add the kale to the skillet and season with salt. Cook over a high flame until the kale is just barely wilted. Stir in the lemon juice and a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper.
Divide the kale between two or three plates.
Arrange the shrimp on top. Scatter the garlic and pancetta over the salad and serve with the lemon wedges for squeezing.
