Mondongo Venezolano

Hard·40 min

A hearty Venezuelan tripe soup, slow-simmered until the honeycomb tripe turns silky and tender in a fragrant broth thick with potato, carrot, squash, and corn. A weekend dish meant for long, lazy lunches.

Mondongo is the Venezuelan version of the pan-Latin American tripe soup — tripe slow-simmered with vegetables and corn into a thick, restorative bowl. Long, gentle cooking is its whole art, and it is beloved home food.

The tripe is meltingly soft, almost gelatinous, soaking up a deeply savory broth laced with sofrito and herbs. Sweet squash and plantain play against the rich meat, and a squeeze of lime cuts through it all. Each spoonful is warm, restorative, and unmistakably home-cooked.

Long, gentle simmering breaks down the tough collagen in tripe into gelatin, turning it silky while thickening and enriching the broth. A pre-cooked sofrito builds a deep aromatic base, and lime rubbed on the raw tripe neutralizes off-odors before cooking.

Variations

Made with chickpeas or beans, pork-trotter versions for a stickier broth, spiced with hot pepper, or a lighter chicken mondongo in place of tripe

On the Palate

Where Mondongo Venezolano sits in the Venezuelan flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 6

1/4 cup, choppedCilantro

How it's made

8 steps · 40 min

1
8 min
Scrub and rinse the tripe well, then rub with lime and rinse again to clean it thoroughly.
Watch out
Rub the raw tripe hard with lime and rinse until it smells clean — skip this and the off-odor carries into the broth.
2
10 min
Cut the tripe into bite-size strips and boil in fresh water 5 minutes, then drain.
3
12 min
Saute onion, garlic, sweet pepper, and tomato into a soft sofrito base.
Watch out
Cook the sofrito down until soft and the raw onion smell is gone — this base is where the broth's depth comes from.
4
4 min
Add the tripe and a piece of beef or pork to the pot and cover with water.
5
165 min
Simmer gently, partly covered, for about 2.5 to 3 hours until the tripe is very tender.
Watch out
Keep it at a lazy bubble for the full 2.5–3 hours until the tripe turns silky and yielding — rush it and it stays rubbery.
6
5 min
Add diced potato, carrot, squash, and chunks of corn.
7
30 min
Continue simmering until the vegetables are soft and the broth has thickened slightly.
8
3 min
Finish with chopped cilantro and serve piping hot with lime wedges.