A hearty, thick Saturday soup built on gungo (pigeon) peas simmered with salted and fresh meats, ground provisions, and tapered cornmeal-flour dumplings called spinners. Rich, peppery, and deeply savory, it is a Jamaican weekend comfort tradition.
Gungo peas, the Jamaican name for pigeon peas brought across the Atlantic from Africa and grown widely on the island, are especially associated with the Christmas season when they are freshest. The soup belongs to Jamaica's deep tradition of 'Saturday soup,' a slow weekend pot stretched with whatever ground provisions and salted meats a household had, simmered until thick and shared as the day's main meal.
Thick and almost stew-like, with earthy, nutty pigeon peas melting into a peppery, meaty broth. Soft chunks of yam and pumpkin add sweetness, while the chewy spinners soak up the savory liquid and the Scotch bonnet leaves a warm, fruity heat.
Long simmering bursts the starchy pigeon peas and dissolves their starch and that of the ground provisions into the broth, thickening it without any flour. A whole intact Scotch bonnet perfumes the pot with fruity heat that can be pulled out before it splits and overwhelms the soup.
Variations
Made vegan with extra ground provisions, enriched with coconut milk, or with red peas (kidney beans) swapped in when gungo is out of season.
On the Palate
Where Gungo Peas Soup Jamaican sits in the Jamaican flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 25 min
- 110 min
If using dried gungo peas, soak overnight, then boil until just tender.
Watch outBoil the soaked gungo peas only until just tender — they cook more in the soup, so mushy now means they'll fall apart later.
- 225 min
Simmer salted meat or pig's tail in fresh water to soften and reduce salt.
- 35 min
Add the gungo peas, beef or soup bones, and plenty of water to the pot.
- 48 min
Add diced yellow yam, pumpkin, coco, and Irish potato as ground provisions.
- 55 min
Season with thyme, scallion, garlic, pimento, and a whole Scotch bonnet left intact.
Watch outLeave the Scotch bonnet whole and unbroken — it should perfume the pot with fruity heat, not split and flood it with fire.
- 612 min
Make spinners by rolling small bits of flour-and-cornmeal dough between your palms; drop them in.
- 745 min
Stir in a soup mix or salt to taste and simmer until peas burst and the broth thickens.
Watch outThe soup's ready when the peas burst and the broth turns creamy and thick on its own — that's the starch doing the work, no flour needed.
- 85 min
Remove the Scotch bonnet before it breaks, check seasoning, and serve hot.
Watch outFish the pepper out before its skin breaks — once it splits, the heat can't be pulled back.
