Learn how to make delicious Jamaican mutton soup. A soup that is incredibly filling, boneless, flavoursome, hearty and made with a medley of root vegetables. This is another variation of Saturday soup.
2-2½lbsmutton(1.3kg) I used both boneless mutton/goat meat but bony meat works just fine.
7cupswater(1.6 litres)
2tablespoonany red meat seasoning(30g) optional see notes i.e lamb, mutton, goat, beef
To cook the soup
1lbyam (450g) white or yellow, chopped
1cho chochopped
1 medium potatoI used sweet potato but Irish potato works too
1-2medium carrot(s)chopped
3scallionchopped
1small onionchopped, optional
8sprigs of thymetied in a bundle
8pimento berries
5cupswater(1.18 litres) leftover from pressure cooking the meat
5cupsmutton stock (1.18 litres) see the notes for the link
pumpkin soup mixI'm using 3tbsp of my homemade soup mix, see notes
scotch bonnet
black pepper, garlic powder and pink salt to taste
For the dumpling
2cupsgluten free flour(272g)
½cupwater(118ml) (approximately)
½teaspoonpink salt(2.5g)
Instructions
To pressure cook the mutton
Add the mutton, sprinkle in the seasoning and pour the water into the instant pot
Secure the lid, select "meat mode" and adjust to 20 minutes then set the valve to "sealing".
Once the time is up, do a quick release and switching the valve to "venting" be careful as the steam will immediately shoot upwards, so keep your face away from the lid.
Remove any fat/scum/residue from the top of the mutton water with a spoon before using it.
To make the soup
Transfer 5 cups of water from pressure cooking, the 5 cups of mutton stock, along with the mutton to a stock pot and allow to boil (it will boil quickly, since half of the water is already hot).
Now add the vegetables/herbs - cho cho, yam, potato, carrot, scallion, onion (if using) pimento berries, thyme and the cock soup mix and stir then reduce the heat to medium/low.
To make the dumpling
Place the flour in a bowl with pink salt
Gradually pour the water into the bowl (you may not need all of it) until it's sticky enough to make a dough ball.
Pinch off a small amount of dough and roll in the palm of your hands to make "spinners" and make discs to make regular dumpling
Start to add them as you make them to the pot.
Once the dumpling is added, add the scotch bonnet, partly cover the pot (if it is possible) and allow to simmer for up to an hour (skim off any additional foam if needed). If you want the soup thicker, use the back of a spoon to mash some of the potato.
Do a taste test and adjust with pink salt, garlic powder and black pepper if needed
Notes
This is my Homemade Soup Mixthat I use for the recipe. It is gluten free and has been updated to double up as pumpkin soup mix.
Feel free to use any cut of meat you want to, I used boneless but cuts of meat with bone works too.
Use a stock pot that holds at least 4 quartz/3 litres to avoid over spill.
While the mutton is pressure cooking, save yourself some time by peeling the vegetables. Have some water mixed with a few teaspoons of pink salt/lemon juice in a bowl and once you peel the vegetables leave them in the bowl of salt water as this will prevent discolouring.
Feel free to use whatever ground provisions you prefer. Each person has their preference and the ones I'm using may be different to what you use.
If you are using my homemade soup mix (prior to the updated version) then you might want to add ⅓ cup of pureed pumpkin (add this when making the soup) to give the soup some more colour/taste.
If possible I recommend adding the Mutton Stock, this will add tons of flavour.
A great alternative to my homemade Mutton stock is to add some stock cubes/bouillon/ You will want 3-4 cubes of either lamb/mutton/goat.
I'm using this Seasoning when pressure cooking the meat.