Plate 02 of 10

Kallaloo

The Old Year's Night pot. Twice-boiled salt pig tail and smoked ham hock simmered in beef stock, then dasheen leaves, okra, purslane, mallet-pounded conch and cracked blue crab with thyme, cloves, culantro and a splash of cane vinegar, cooked forty-five minutes until the greens collapse, whipped with a wooden swizzle stick into a velvet emerald potage, and served under a scoop of fungi.

Prep: 40 min
Cook: 1 hr 45 min
Serves: 8
Difficulty: Hard

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A bowl of thick dark-green kallaloo with pieces of crab, pink ham, okra and pale conch in the greens.

In the Virgin Islands kallaloo is a rite, eaten on Old Year’s Night and at big Sunday tables across the three islands. It descends from West African vegetable potages but is distinguished by its crowd of proteins: salt pig tail, smoked ham hock, tenderised queen conch and whole blue crab, all in one pot.

Young dasheen leaves simmer with okra, purslane and sweet seasoning peppers until they collapse, then the pot is whipped with a wooden swizzle stick into a spoonable emerald stew and crowned with a scoop of hot fungi.

Ingredients

600 gFresh dasheen leaves, stems peeled and chopped, leaves washed
300 gOkra, in 5 mm rounds
150 gPurslane or tender spinach, washed
400 gSalted pig tails or salt pork, in 4 cm pieces, boiled twice to desalt
400 gSmoked ham hock, rind scored
400 gQueen conch, pounded flat and cut into 3 cm ribbons
4 wholeBlue crabs, scrubbed, top shells removed, halved, claws cracked
200 gYellow onion, finely diced
6 clovesGarlic, minced to a paste
4 wholeSweet seasoning peppers, seeded and minced
6 leavesCulantro, chopped
4 sprigsFresh thyme
4 wholeCloves
1 wholeScotch bonnet, unpunctured, stem on
45 mlRendered pork lard or unsalted butter
30 mlWhite cane vinegar
1.8 LBeef bone stock or water
10 gFine sea saltonly at the end, to taste
3 gBlack pepper, cracked

Boil the greens long, with acid

Raw dasheen holds needle-like calcium oxalate crystals that make the throat itch. A full boil above 90 °C for at least 45 minutes with a little vinegar dissolves them and turns the leaves silky.

The swizzle

Rotated between the palms, the wooden stick shears the softened greens and okra and suspends the pork fat, collagen and crab liquor into one thick emerald emulsion, without turning the meat to purée.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is desalted pig tail, ham hock and crab shell. Fat is rendered pork. Acid is cane vinegar, which the greens chemically need. Heat is the Scotch bonnet's steam, garlic, pepper and cloves. Umami is crab liquor, conch, smoked pork collagen and mineral greens.

Equipment

8-quart enamelled Dutch oven
4-quart saucepan, for desalting
Meat mallet
Wooden swizzle stick, or a whisk or an immersion blender used sparingly

A blackened iron cauldron and a four-pronged swizzle stick, the puyol, is the tradition. Indoors, a Dutch oven and a whisk beaten hard, or an immersion blender pulsed three or four times and no more.

Method

Desalt the pork35 min
Cover the pig tails with cold water, boil hard 15 minutes, drain. Refill with fresh water and boil 15 minutes more. Drain.
Cover the pig tails with cold water, boil hard 15 minutes, drain. Refill with fresh water and boil 15 minutes more. Drain.
Tenderise the conch8 min
Between two sheets of plastic, pound the conch with the spiked face of a mallet until it flattens to 5 mm. Cut into 3 cm ribbons and toss with a tablespoon of lime juice.
Between two sheets of plastic, pound the conch with the spiked face of a mallet until it flattens to 5 mm. Cut into 3 cm ribbons and toss with a tablespoon of lime juice.
Build the stock50 min
Melt the lard in the Dutch oven over medium. Sauté the onion, seasoning peppers and garlic 5 minutes. Add the pig tails and ham hock, pour in the stock, bring to a boil, cover and simmer 45 minutes until the pork begins to soften.
Melt the lard in the Dutch oven over medium. Sauté the onion, seasoning peppers and garlic 5 minutes. Add the pig tails and ham hock, pour in the stock, bring to a boil, cover and simmer 45 minutes until the pork begins to soften.
Greens, conch, crab and vinegar45 min
Add the dasheen, okra, purslane, conch and crab. Add the thyme, cloves, culantro and the vinegar. Set the whole Scotch bonnet on top. Stir, cover with the lid ajar, and simmer 45 minutes until the leaves collapse into a dark emerald mass.
Add dasheen, okra, purslane, conch, crab, thyme, cloves, culantro and vinegar. Set the whole unpunctured Scotch bonnet on top. Stir; leave lid ajar and cook at least 45 minutes, above 90 °C, until greens collapse into a dark emerald mass.
Swizzle14 min
Lift out the pepper intact. Whip the greens and okra against the pot walls with the swizzle stick or whisk 3 to 4 minutes until velvety and cohesive around the meat and crab. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes to thicken.
Remove pepper intact. Swizzle or whisk greens and okra against the pot walls 3–4 minutes until velvety around the meat and crab, keeping meat intact. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes to thicken.
Season and serve
Taste and add salt only if needed, and the pepper. Discard the cloves and thyme stems. Ladle into deep bowls so each gets crab, conch and pork, and set a scoop of hot fungi on top.
Taste and add salt only if needed, and the pepper. Discard the cloves and thyme stems. Ladle into deep bowls so each gets crab, conch and pork, and set a scoop of hot fungi on top.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a glossy forest-green stew, thick and cohesive, holding pink ham, orange crab claws and pale conch.
- Auditory: a deep muffled bubble, and the whirr of the swizzle against the pot base.
- Olfactory: smoked pork, blue crab, sweet conch, thyme, garlic, earthy greens.
Look for thick glossy forest-green stew holding pink ham, orange crab claws and pale conch. Expect deep muted bubbles and swizzle sounds, with smoked pork, crab, conch, thyme, garlic and greens aromas.

Troubleshooting

An itching throat.: Under 40 minutes on the dasheen. Forty-five minutes at a boil with the vinegar in.
Inedibly salty.: The pig tails went in raw. Boil and drain them twice first.
Baby food.: An electric blender run on high. Swizzle by hand; the soup keeps shreds of green, conch and crab.

Substitutions

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

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Dasheen leaves	Collard greens with baby spinach, or Swiss chard	Simmer until fully collapsed; collards need 15 minutes more
Queen conch	Sea scallops, pounded squid or whelks	Pounded squid gives a similar chew
Salted pig tails	Smoked ham hocks, smoked turkey necks or salt pork	The same collagen and smoke

Scaling

Half

A 5-quart Dutch oven; still 45 minutes on the greens for the oxalate.

Double

A 16-quart stockpot for the holiday, swizzled with a long turnstick.

What to serve it with

A scoop of okra fungi in the bowl
Hot Crucian johnny cakes for dipping
Cold maubi or island ginger beer

Questions

What replaces dasheen leaves?

Callaloo bush, collards, Swiss chard or frozen taro leaves. Collards need about 15 minutes longer.

Why pig tails?

On the old plantations salted pig tails gave gelatin, fat and keeping power when fresh meat was scarce.

Can I leave out the conch or crab?

Yes; all-seafood and vegetarian versions exist, but the Crucian pot has both land meat and sea.