Plate 07 of 10

Yellow Split Pea Soup

Soupe aux pois, the sugar-shack winter staple that came over with Champlain's men. Yellow split peas simmered two hours with a smoked ham hock, salt pork lardons, mirepoix, bay and summer savory until they dissolve into a thick golden potage, salted only at the end.

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 2 hr
Serves: 8
Difficulty: Medium

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A deep bowl of thick golden-yellow pea soup with shreds of pink smoked ham, orange carrot dice and crisp lardons on top, beside torn crusty bread.

Across Quebec’s sugar shacks and farmhouse hearths, yellow split pea soup has carried families through winters since New France. Champlain’s men brought dried yellow peas and salted pork across the Atlantic, and the soup has not changed much since.

It is made strictly with yellow peas, never green. They simmer low with a smoked ham hock, salt pork, carrot, celery and onion, scented with summer savory and bay, until they dissolve over two hours into a thick, golden potage studded with shreds of tender smoked ham.

Ingredients

500 gDried yellow split peas, sorted and rinsedno soaking needed
1 wholeSmoked ham hock, about 700 g, rind scored
200 gSalt pork belly or thick-cut bacon, in 1 cm lardons
2.5 LCold water or light chicken stock
2 largeYellow onions, diced fine
3 clovesGarlic, minced to a paste
2 largeCarrots, cut into 5 mm dice
2 stalksCelery with leaves, in 5 mm dice
4 gDried summer savoryor wild thyme
2 wholeBay leaves
10 gFine sea saltadded only at the end; the pork is salty
3 gCoarsely ground black pepper
30 gFlat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, to garnish

No soak, no salt until the end

Split peas have lost their seed coat, so water gets in fast and they cook to a purée in about ninety minutes. Salt or acid added early keeps the cell walls firm and leaves chalky peas. Season in the last fifteen minutes.

How it thickens itself

Between 92 and 95 °C the hemicellulose walls break down, the starch granules swell and burst, and free amylose goes into the broth. The hock sheds gelatin at the same time. A few shears with a masher at the end emulsify pork fat and pea starch into a velvety potage with no roux or cream.

Yellow, never green

Green split peas taste grassy and vegetal. The French-Canadian soup is yellow peas only.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is the cured pork and the hock's brine. Fat is rendered lardons and smoked pork collagen. Acid comes at the table, a splash of cider vinegar or pickled onions. Heat is black pepper, garlic and peppery savory. Umami is ham hock collagen, dissolved pea protein and sweated mirepoix.

Equipment

8-quart enamelled cast-iron Dutch oven
Flat wooden spoon
Potato masher or immersion blender

Cast iron spreads the heat so the heavy pea starch does not settle and scorch. At a sugar shack it is a cast-aluminium chaudron over a wood stove.

Method

Render the pork and sweat the mirepoix16 min
Cook the lardons in the Dutch oven over medium heat 6 to 8 minutes until golden and rendered. Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic to the fat and sweat 8 minutes, stirring often, until soft and translucent with no browning.
Cook the lardons in the Dutch oven over medium heat 6 to 8 minutes until golden and rendered. Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic to the fat and sweat 8 minutes, stirring often, until soft and translucent with no browning.
Build the pot5 min
Add the rinsed peas. Score the hock's skin and nestle it into the peas. Add the savory, bay leaves, black pepper and 2.5 litres cold water. Add no salt yet.
Add the rinsed peas. Score the hock's skin and nestle it into the peas. Add the savory, bay leaves, black pepper and 2.5 litres cold water. Add no salt yet.
Simmer low and slow1 hr 30 min
Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high and skim the foam for 10 minutes. Reduce to low, set the lid slightly ajar, and simmer at 90 to 92 °C for 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring the bottom every 20 minutes so the starch does not stick.
Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high; skim for 10 minutes. Lower heat, leave lid ajar and simmer at 90–92 °C for 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring the bottom every 20 minutes to prevent sticking.
Shred the ham and half-purée10 min
Lift the hock onto a board. Discard the rind, bones and gristle and shred the pink meat with two forks. Return it to the pot. Break down about half the peas with a masher, or three pulses of an immersion blender, leaving the rest rustic.
Lift the hock onto a board. Discard the rind, bones and gristle and shred the pink meat with two forks. Return it to the pot. Break down about half the peas with a masher, or three pulses of an immersion blender, leaving the rest rustic.
Finish and season15 min
Simmer uncovered on low 15 minutes, stirring along the bottom, until it coats a spoon. Taste and add salt only now, about a teaspoon depending on the ham. Discard the bay leaves.
Simmer uncovered on low 15 minutes, stirring along the bottom, until it coats a spoon. Taste and add salt only now, about a teaspoon depending on the ham. Discard the bay leaves.
Serve
Ladle into deep bowls, top with crisp lardons and parsley, and serve hot with crusty bread.
Ladle into deep bowls, top with crisp lardons and parsley, and serve hot with crusty bread.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a thick golden potage holding shreds of pink ham, carrot dice and flecks of savory, with no watery separation.
- Auditory: heavy, slow plops from a viscous soup on low heat.
- Olfactory: wood smoke, sweet yellow peas, curing brine, dried savory and simmered hock.
Check for thick golden soup holding ham shreds, carrots and savory without watery separation. Expect slow heavy bubbling and aromas of smoke, sweet yellow peas, curing brine, savory and ham.

Storing it

It thickens dramatically in the fridge and keeps 4 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water or stock.

Troubleshooting

Hard, chalky peas after two hours.: Salt or acid went in at the start and stopped the cell walls softening. Season only in the last 15 minutes.
Scorched taste from the bottom of the pot.: Pea starch settled on the hot metal. Stir the base every 15 minutes with a flat wooden spoon.
A grassy, wrong-tasting soup.: Green split peas. Use yellow.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Smoked ham hock	Smoked pork shank, a ham bone, or a smoked turkey leg	One-to-one. Turkey leg gives smoke and gelatin for a pork-free pot
Salt pork	Thick-cut slab bacon or pancetta	One-to-one. Renders savoury fat
Summer savory	Dried thyme with a pinch of marjoram	One-to-one. Same peppery herbal backbone

Scaling

Half, for 4

Halve everything in a 4-quart Dutch oven and simmer 90 minutes.

Double, for 16

Double the ingredients in a 16-quart stockpot and stir the bottom diligently.

What to serve it with

A slice of warm tourtière afterwards, the classic Quebec pairing
Thick sourdough with salted butter, for dipping
A malty Quebec amber ale such as Boréale Rousse, or dry sparkling cider

Questions

Do yellow split peas need soaking?

No. With the seed coat removed, water penetrates quickly and they cook to velvet in about 90 minutes.

Can I use a slow cooker?

Yes. Cook on low 7 to 8 hours with the hock, then shred the meat and stir it back in.

How does it keep?

Very well. It thickens a lot in the fridge; loosen with water or stock when reheating.