Asopao is Puerto Rico's national soup. It first appeared in the 19th century in Puerto Rican restaurants. Since then, it has been a major phenomenon in most Puerto Rican restaurants, both large and small.
Most chefs even have their own recipe for asopao. It is said that Puerto Rican asopao is a blend of American gumbo and Spanish paella. The earliest known recipes are a mixture of rice, chicken, chorizo, seafood, alcaparrado (filled olives and capers), white wine, sofrito, and garnished with green peas and finally chopped carrots. The most popular asopaos are chicken asopao and seafood asopao made with saffron broth, scallops, mussels, shrimp, lobster, clams, and oysters.
For many Dominicans, considering asopao as a foreign import would be heresy. The dish is usually prepared on special occasions, such as birthdays. The soup is often cooked with chicken or shrimp. In the Dominican Republic, asopao is almost always cooked with beer, sofrito, broth cubes, olives, capers, and bitter orange.
So even on hot summer nights, sometimes we need something comforting after a very long day; this dish is perfect for that. Don’t miss trying rice asopao. It can be made with chicken, pork, beef, seafood, or vegetables.
