Bone Soup
There is no restaurant specializing on Yemenite cuisine, that doesn't serve this wonderful dish. In Israel it is called "Leg Soup", because the most important ingredient here is the marrow bone from beef leg (ask the butcher to cut it into 5 cm pieces). In order to prepare this soup you will need hawaij (see recipe), the famous Yemenite blend of spices used in many dishes and especially soups.
1/2 Kg (1 lb 2 oz) beef shoulder
1 Kg (2 lb 3 oz) marrow bone
2/3 cup white beans
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
3 tomatoes
2 tbsps. tomato paste
1 tbsp. sweet paprika
2 tbsps. hawaij
1 1/2 L (3 pints) beef broth
1/2 bunch coriander leaves (cilantro)
2 medium potatoes
salt
pepper
olive oil
Preparation time: 4 hrs. + 12 hrs. soaking the beans
Difficulty level: Easy
Servings: 6
Ingredients
Preparation
Soak the beans in water for 12 hours. Change the water from time to time.
Put the bones in a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Let cook for 15 mins. and then remove and get rid of the water.
Dice the onion thinly. Peel and dice the garlic thinly as well.
Heat a large frying pan or a wok over medium heat, put some olive oil and sauté the meat with one tbsp. of hawaij, stirring often, until the meat is evenly browned and seasoned on all sides.
Remove the meat, add some olive oil and sauté the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and continue stirring 2 mins more.
Put the meat and the bones in a pot, add the sautéed onion and garlic and cover with the rinsed beans.
Make some incisions in the tomatoes (while keeping them whole) and add to the pot with the cilantro and the remaining hawaij.
Cover the ingredients with the broth, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium.
Simmer for 10 minutes. Check seasoning, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot.
Simmer the soup for 2 1/2 hrs.
Peel the potatoes, cut into large chunks and add to the soup. Let simmer for another 30-45 minutes until the broth thickens and the meat is tender.
Before serving, remove the tomatoes and cilantro.
