“Locra” means “thick soup”, so one should never say “Locra Papa Soup.” Rather, it is simply “Locra Papa — the best soup you’ve ever tasted!” ☺
On May 23, I published a blog entry talking about a cooking class I took at La Warmi for locra papa. I promised I would post the recipe once I had tried it at home. Here is the fulfillment of that promise.
The ingredient list includes Achiote. I have never heard of this before coming to Ecuador, and I doubt it can be purchased in most grocery stores in the US. It looks like a dark oily liquid. The teaching chef said that its main purpose is to create the final color. As such, if you can’t find it, try making the locra without it. Perhaps something else could be used to create the color if you really want the authentic appearance.
Ingredient List:
- 3 cups potatoes — peeled and cubed
- 1 red onion — chopped
- 1 clove garlic — minced
- 1 tsp Achiote
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp cumin seed
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp salt (or I substitute Slap Ya’ Mama for salt in almost all recipes)
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup cheese (NOTE: The photo above shows ‘taco cheese.’ This didn’t work as well as hoped. Now I use ‘queso fresco’, which works much better.)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1-1/2 cup water (important to measure!)
- 1 avocado
Note: Be sure to measure the water used. If you use a different amount of water than the 1-1/2 cup indicated, adjust the milk, cream and cheese accordingly.
- Wash the potatoes once cubed. Rinse until water is clear.
- Heat the oil and achiote. Add onion, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt. Cook until onion is soft (about 5 min).
- Add potatoes and cover with water (this is where you measure how much water you use, and adjust all later ingredients if needed).
- Cook for 15 min.
- Add the milk and simmer for 5 more minutes.
- Remove from heat. Add cheese and cream.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add avocado to serving bowl before placing on table.