Many cultures in a single bowl: Ham Hock and Lentil Soup

Ingredients from around the world create this smoky, big-flavored, slightly spicy lentil soup. Recipe below.

LENTILS ARE A STAPLE AROUND THE WORLD, from India (where 40% of the world’s lentils are consumed) to the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas. We’ve shared lentil recipes here from India, France, Turkey, Italy and other spots around the globe. This recipe is a global adventure all its own.

Based on a recipe by Saint Lucia-born New Orleans chef Nina Compton, it contains smoked ham hock from the American South; okra, also from the South by way of Africa; South American habanero pepper; lemongrass, native to India, Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand; and ginger, probably from India and China.

This is one of our favorite ways to cook, blending flavors from many kitchen, many cultures. In this lentil soup, they all combine into a delicious, big-flavored dish with each ingredient making a contribution.

The lentils cook quite quickly, but the ham hock takes a couple of hours. You can cook it ahead, fridging the meat and the smoky broth it produces, then quickly cooking the finished soup a day or two later. That’s what we did.

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Ham Hock and Lentil Soup

Lentils are cooked with smoked ham hocks, okra, lemongrass, ginger and a habanero pepper to create a smoky, big flavored, slightly spicy dinner.

Course Soup

Servings 4 as a main course

Ingredients

• 2 smoked ham hocks, 10 – 12 ounces each
• olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 or 2 lemongrass stalks, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons—see Kitchen Notes)
• 1 fresh habanero chile, finely chopped (see Kitchen Notes)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger (see Kitchen Notes)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 pound uncooked dried yellow or red lentils
• 1-1/2 cups sliced okra (fresh or frozen—see Kitchen Notes)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions or chives, plus more for garnish

Instructions

• Bring ham hocks and 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large stockpot. Reduce heat to low, partially cover the pot and cook at a gentle boil until meat is tender, about 2 hours.
• Remove hocks and let them cool until you can handle them. Remove the skin from hocks and discard. Remove meat from bones and chop into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. Skim any fat from surface of stock. Set stock aside. At this point, you can refrigerate the meat and stock to finish cooking the soup in the next day or two.
• Heat some olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium. Add onion, lemongrass, habanero and ginger, and cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in salt.
• Add lentils, 3 cups of water and 3 cups reserved stock to the pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender, 10 to 14 minutes. Add additional stock to thin, if needed.
• Stir in scallions, chopped thyme, okra and reserved chopped meat. Cook until okra is tender, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, if needed.
• Serve in soup bowls, topping with with sliced scallions or chives. You could also use fresh thyme leaves.

Kitchen Notes

About lemongrass. You have to peel away and discard a fair amount of the tough outer leaves of the lemongrass stalks, so buy 2 to be safe. Cynthia at cookusinterruptus has an excellent video on cutting lemongrass here.

Don’t leave out the pepper. We chopped our habanero up seeds and all, and it only provided a hint of heat. If you don’t want the heat, discard the seeds and ribs. The remaining pepper will deliver great flavor without the heat.

Ginger, fresh or in a tube? Fresh ginger has a real knack for going bad before we use it, so we’re big fans of fresh ginger in a tube, already very finely chopped. If you’re using fresh, add it when you add the onion, habanero and lemongrass to the pot. If you’re using the tube stuff, stir it in right at the end of sautéing the onion mix.

Okra, fresh or frozen? If you can find fresh okra, great. But honestly, we’ve been using frozen lately for dishes just like this, and we like it. Don’t thaw before adding to the soup.