Repe a green banana soup from Ecuador

January 27, 2020 SouthAmerica

I can’t recall exactly how many times I had to pass on green bananas because they weren’t ripe enough. I remember being at Costco and looking at those green bananas from Ecuador and not buying them. If only I knew then, what I know now, what a difference that could have made.

I am learning about Ecuadorian food, and it is fascinating. I learned about this soup while talking with a man about food. And he mentioned this soup Repe Lojano. Repe being the name of the soup, and Lojano is regarding the city’s name of Loja, where he was from.

As we were talking about it, the way he described the soup to me was enough to open my curiosity. After getting home. I started researching about this dish. I have to admit that at the beginning it was confusing for me to figure out the difference between bananas. In Ecuador they have different names for different varieties of bananas. Green bananas are call guineos. I thought green bananas were plantains, but this was my mistake.

southamericatotheworld.com — Guineos verdes-green bananas

Guineo is the unripe common banana that is also call plátano verde. Verde is green in Spanish, and the banana is green until it ripens and turns yellow in which case, they call it maduro. After figuring this out the recipe became even more attractive. I haven’t had a green banana soup before but sounded very simple and delicious.

There is the traditional Repe recipe. The Repe Lojano which has peas in it. I made some changes to the recipe, mainly I am avoiding dairy, but I will share both recipes.

I hope you guys give this modest recipe a try, and never pass on those green bananas again. This dish would be a great addition to a vegetarian repertoire.

Tip: Treat the green bananas as you will with potatoes. After peeling them keep them in cold water otherwise, it will darken. As you chop them put them back in the cold water until it is time to add it to the soup.

Traditional Repe Soup

Ingredients:

5 green bananas (guineos) chopped in small squares

8 cups of water

½ onion finely chopped

1 garlic finely chopped

Olive oil

Milk

Salt and pepper

For garnish

Cilantro finely chopped

Fresh cheese

Avocado

Preparation:

In a medium-size pot over medium heat add the olive oil, then the onion and garlic, and sauté until fragrant. Then add the water and bring to a boil. Only then add the guineos, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until cooked. Take some guineos out and mashed them to thicken the soup.

Season with salt and pepper. Add milk to your taste, cilantro, avocado slices or squares, and fresh cheese.

Enjoy!

Repe Lojano

This recipe is as the traditional Repe recipe, except for adding green peas. This could be 1 cup, if you like.

My Repe recipe

Same as the traditional Repe but doesn’t contain any dairy, and I don’t thicken the soup. I like it as a clean broth. I considered adding cooked quinoa as a thickening element, but haven’t tried it yet. I added the green peas which turned into a green soup, and with the cilantro it was tasty. And being Peruvian, I had to add some spiciness to it. Any fresh pepper would work for this.

Enjoy!