SOPA DE PARAGUAY RECIPE


Introduction

Be warned, this ‘Sopa de Paraguay’ (Paraguayan soup) is not actually a soup. It is a typical Paraguayan dish similar to corn bread. It is a very dense, spongy cake rich in proteins and in calories and is highly addictive (as its so tasty!). A Brazilian man told us that the recipe used to be an actual soup, but that during the Paraguayan war, soldiers were eating this good meal in condensed form with way less liquid, so it wasn’t as heavy to carry. Today, Sopa de Paraguay is widely available and a popular dish to be eaten at any time of the day in Paraguay and also in surrounding countries. Please enjoy the below delicious recipe, which we got from our friend Jeanne Benevides, thanks Jeanne!

Prep
30 min

Total
60 min

Servings
12

Ingredients

  • 2 onions
  • 200 g butter
  • 5 cans of corn
  • 400 ml milk
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ cup corn oil or canola oil (not olive oil)
  • 200 g corn flakes (‘milharina’ or ‘flocos de milho’ Quaker instantaneo)
  • 500 g white fresh cheese (farm cheese middle hard, almost solid)
  • 1 ts of yeast
  • Salt (optional)
  • 100 g mozarella

Tools

  • Frying pan
  • Blender
  • Oven plate
  • Cheese grater
  • Oven

Steps

  1. Heat oven to 230°C.
  2. Cut the onions cut in small pieces and fry it shortly with the butter.
  3. Mix all the corn without its juice in a blender, together with about 400 ml of milk (milk till the middle amount of the corn). Only blend it shortly to keep the nice rough texture of the corn (unless you prefer a smoother texture).
  4. Cut the cheese into little cubes.
  5. Mix the onions with the corn, eggs, oil, corn flakes, cheese and yeast.
  6. Add salt to taste (it depends on the cheese that you use, whether you need added salt and how much).
  7. Grease oven plate.
  8. Put everything in the oven plate.
  9. Grate the mozarella and put it on top.
  10. Put the Sopa de Paraguay in the oven for about 30 minutes at 230°C, till its nice and brown.

 

Sopa de Paraguay can be served either hot or cold and is traditionally served with a nice, hot coffee.

 

Serving tip

Sopa de Paraguay goes well with a simple, fresh tomato salad. It is a great snack easy to bring on a picnic.