Split Pea Soup with Sizzled Spices | That Sounds So Good

This is a pretty claaaaaasic version of split pea soup-with a ham hock that vegetarians can simply omit. What makes it special is a well-made soffritto that gives the soup deep flavor and structure. At the end, a spoonful of spices that have been bloomed in hot oil until sizzling get spooned over the top and add an amazing layer of aroma and sass.
If you're in Nashville, TN, visit Vivek Surti at his wonderful restaurant, Tailor. He showed me how to make tadka, and I am grateful for his knowledge.
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Food Stylist: Cybelle Tondu
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Editor: Meg Felling
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#thatsoundssogood

[@CalculusKai]

I love this series so much and It comes out right after I get out of school. So like I always sit down and eat my lunch and watch you make food and it’s the highlight of my day

[@tf7831]

Turned this on and hubs says “I hear auntie Carla, what are we making?!” That really DOES look so good..

[@lucasoraha5792]

This series is the best thing to ever happen to KZbin. Carla is a gem, truely feel like I’m watching a friend cook. If these book recipes finish you must write another book for this KZbin series

[@pinkprankie]

im completely in love with this cookbook. if anyone is on the fence about buying it, let me help you make a decision: BUY IT. (this comment is not sponsored hehe)

[@liamsudsy7563]

I love watching carla videos for a million reasons but a big one right now is something about carla overrides all my fear of “doing it wrong”. She makes me want to try new things and not worry too much about the process!

[@m_a_k_e_n_n_a]

I love how the auto captions keep calling it "Slippy Soup" which is adorable

[@FroschKrone]

I love that you explain, where the technique you are using is coming from. I feel like a lot of people don't recognize it and kind of accept that viewers might think it was their idea!? Also you maybe just make people curious for the cuisine you are mentioning. Thank you for this gorgeous recipe! Split pea soop is my favorite, a german staple food in winter and I'll definetly try this

[@ceebuscus]

You know it’s going to be a good day when Carla posts another video!

[@ethanpschwartz]

I think you've done the impossible and convinced me to make split pea soup.

[@AMSanchez18]

Carla, your pasta fagioli is my autumn/winter staple for years now! so healthy and delicious, and your soffrito method gives the best flavor! so thankful for your recipes

[@zekelucente9702]

I love soup both making and eating it. The smell of a good pot of soup on the stove makes a house a home.

[@Amanda-xx3fx]

On my second try of making this recipe I tried making it with no meat so I used shiitake mushrooms instead since it was all I had. To make up for the lack of fat and general salted meatiness I added soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and paprika and I gotta say. It is the bomb. I feel like I'm really expanding my cooking abilities (and my spice options lol) after watching this series, I'm so happy these videos exist 💜

[@NaClockNile]

I seriously love this series. While I love to cook, I was feeling stagnant with my recipes. This series and these recipes opened my eyes to new ways of cooking and new spices. I've found some of my favorite recipes from Carla!

[@crocketthenderson7252]

Just received your cookbook as a birthday gift this weekend. I love cooking my way through the recipes while your videos play, it makes it feel like you're cooking with me! Can't wait to treat my family to this dish soon.

[@MacbookJesse]

Love you Carla. And all your cooking endeavors. You’ve taught me so much about cooking and food over the years.

[@roryhamilton513]

I made my version of this yesterday. Trying to be low salt so went for roast chicken instead of ham. Made my own stock. Used hard cider in the soup, which was delicious. And got my smokiness from some smoked paprika and a couple of drops of liquid smoke. So good.

[@Becausing]

Cider sounds like a GREAT addition. Gotta try that!

[@adamthemute]

As a recent fennel convert, I can't wait to try this!

[@rojasantiago89]

Thank you Carla Lalli Music!! You're a charm and you always lift my spirits!

[@daniellejulien715]

Alright! Finally someone who is experimental and not afraid to try NEW things. That said, following her recipes is like learning songs the old-fashioned way (lifting the needle up and down on the record). A list of ingredients with the amounts would help A-LOT! I ended up writing out the recipe that said a bunch of this and a bunch of that and mix it together! Cook it! Done!

[@independent4570]

I love your videos! Effortlessly cool and fun. You make everything seem easy and I love how you take the time to explain techniques and various cookware.

[@miocio315]

Ordered your cookbook just now! It felt like the absolute right thing to do after watching numerous videos of you cooking from this book. Thanks for the great recipes!

[@videomaster952]

i look forward to your videos every week! Thank you Carla! :)

[@jens4539]

That carrot, holy moly! Excited for this recipe. My mom made split pea soup all the time when I was younger, so it will be extra special to make!

[@d3modawid]

I made this recipe and I loved it so much. Even with all of the QQ bits. Best soup I've ever made.

[@dylanhunzeker6802]

This was quite an amazing soup! I wasn’t sure what temperature it should boil at for an hour and a half, but I did 9-10 cups of chicken bone broth and skipped the ham hock, adding more oil instead. Boiled it at medium high for 1.5 hours, it lost a ton of the moisture so I added 1-5 cups here and there, adjusted heat to medium for 10-20 more minutes, added a bit more salt and pepper and then it was awesome. I don’t know if this is normal but the peas still feel a bit al dente, which is fine but not sure if because the ones I got were organic or not. Added a bit more beer than recommended too, it ended up boiling off but added a hearty flavor. And instead of mustard seed I had mustard powder which worked for the Tadka! Amazing recipe per usual. Love you Carla!

[@ririxixi]

Thank you for giving us alternative for us vegetarians. We appreciate it very much

[@overseastom]

CHHONK?! I love it. If I ever open a restaurant, that's the name.

[@PatriciaScarpinTK]

I would love that for dinner even though it is extremely hot in Sao Paulo! Wonderful, Carla!

[@animamundiacres2236]

thanks for including vegetarian and vegan friends in your recipe spins!

[@couldbecooking]

I want to "fast forward" to dinner time now! This looks so tempting! 😋

[@natalietran3548]

yum!! obsessed forever w sweet carla

[@misssabina235]

Liquid smoke is also a great way to add the smokey flavor without the meat just be careful not to go overboard its strong stuff

[@Chiaroscuro9]

Love that Carla did a shoutout to the humble tadka.

[@CoralColouredFlickerFeather]

I just made this soup-addition of fennel is delightful!

[@sarahcooley3727]

I made this without a ham hock so used about 2 tsp tamari and 8 cups of water instead of 10. It was really good and a keeper. Thank you!

[@arshbehal6312]

My Indian heart is the happiest after seeing you put the 'tadka' in this. I have been raised eating daals with tadka like this. Loved it.

[@ansuajo]

Cultural appropriation without due acknowledgement

[@gadget1968]

Many thanks and I do love your book

[@luiseduardogg]

Thanks, Carla! I'm cooking this for my seven Park Slope roommates.

[@jamesmorrison7847]

I like your Staub 5 qt Dutch Oven. I'm poor so I bought a Chinese copy of it at Costco. It worked for about 10 years. When I make split pea soup or Navy bean soup I put the bone from a smoked pork shoulder with a lot of meat still attached, then before serving I pull the bone out and scrape the meat off and toss it into the soup. Good stuff.

[@CookbooksonRepeat]

Cartilage and tendons are the ultimate prize and chef’s for me in my kitchen. I will try to eat it all before my kid sees it!

[@cyndimalone1769]

As luck would have it I am making split pea soup today. I’ve never processed the sofrito but I am today. My family loves my soups and I make them weekly. 💜

[@jeffallison4068]

This recipe is delicious. I'm not a meat eater, so I left out the ham hock, but I wanted to up the umami ante, so I used some soy sauce for part of the salt, threw in a parm rind, and used a dash of MSG. So good.

[@katieturner3478]

Your recipes and you are hilarious! Gawd Thank you!

[@smknochs1]

Split pea-ople, soup-er mom, olive oil bell, believe sofirmly -- Carla is the best.

[@smknochs1]

SAPPY PAPPY'S PEA PLACE! 😭😭

[@davidehrenreich7262]

cartilage is everything! it was my mom’s favorite part of the short ribs!!

[@lizsteilkie]

Glenn then Rick then Sohla then Carla =great Sunday...

[@musickrazy43]

Love this recipe, just like I love all of Carla's recipes. And I can't wait to make this soup. As a proud Taiwanese-American, I just wanted to clarify that I think QQ is a translation from Taiwanese (or Taiwanese Hokkien), I believe, and not a translation from Chinese. I'm sure there are those who would argue that Taiwanese/Taiwanese Hokkien is a dialect of Chinese (I am not one of those people), but I think even if it is, it's worth changing the text in the video to say "Taiwanese," even though Carla herself does acknowledge that it is a concept from Taiwanese culture.

[@sembo002]

Love the use of the cartilage bits! #TeamBits

[@michelejack9640]

😂 I love it! You are so funny and fun to watch 😊 Lol! Yes to the garlic & crushed red peppers 🌶️!!! Love Dijon!!!! Now you're going to make me go shopping! I don't think I've ever seen pea shoots?? Yummy!!

[@anddyy]

Down with the soffrito ✅✅✅

[@485OCEAN]

I. Love. You. So. Much. Carla❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Also the editor😂😂😂😂 Also the intro song😍😍😍😍

[@tiacho2893]

I make the French Canadian (I'm Canadian) version of split pea soup with ham hock. I buy three smoked ham hocks every fall for six batches of soup that serves eight portions. Because I hate overcooked carrots, I reserve most of them for the last hour of cooking. And I first make ham broth out of the ham hock because the ham hocks I buy seem vary a bit in cook time. And I don't like them too chewy or too mushy.

[@ThePoisonedArtist]

that sounds delicious! Hi fellow quebecois!

[@tiacho2893]

@@ThePoisonedArtist My family likes it. The traditional recipe where everything was added at once usually left me with overcooked carrots, perfectly cooked peas, and tough ham hock. So, I braise the ham hock the day before or earlier, debone, and then make the soup as normal using the ham broth. After about 1.5 to 2 hours (depending on the peas) I add bias cut carrots and the chopped ham. And just simmer until the carrots and ham are done but still have texture. Yeah, I know it's annoyingly fussy. But I like it and it's mostly letting the pot do its thing.

[@libertyblueskyes2564]

While eating at a DimSum restaurant in Hong Kong, I was served a dish that was explained as cartilage in gravy. It was mildly delicious. I preferred the steamed pork buns however.

[@PatriciaScarpinTK]

I've had a food blog for 17 years, wrote an e-book (memoir + recipes) and what I do to make beautiful photos of food that is not that photogenic is to choose very beautiful china, tableware and accessorize with that! :)

[@DireDandelion]

For vegetarian smokiness: iribancha, or smoked tea leaves. They come in whole leaves and you can use them like bay leaves.

[@johannebeerbaum1546]

I checked your recipe out to see if I could find any quirk to make my soup better…..I found we are twins until the sizzle, which I appreciate very much and will try this week. Thanks…..

[@basbleupeaunoire]

Wow - you got your beauty and cooking talent from your mother! :) I use smoked spices, and they work well.

[@imtoto813]

I guess the equivalent to soffrito in Germany is called Suppengrün (literally "soup greens") and it's usually carrots, leek and celeriac. sometimes parsnip and parsley are added. at least that's what I've seen in stores where I live (there's probably regional differences) and they're are usually available in prepackaged bundles, so that's really neat :)

[@MrDukeSilverr]

Its similar to the classic trinities in french and cajun cooking, onion, garlic, carrot, or bell peppers or whatevers around

[@hycan4782]

Her recipe is very similar to mine, but I use smoked turkey tails when they're on sale, they make a great sub for people that don't eat pork!

[@sassounhagopian4144]

Love these videos, Carla! You're the only chef whose videos I still look forward to watching from the old BA gang. By the way, what kind of pepper grinder do you use/recommend? The ones I have are terrible.

[@CarlaLalliMusic123]

It is the one from Mann Kitchen. I also really like Unicorn brand.

[@sassounhagopian4144]

@@CarlaLalliMusic123 Thanks so much!!! YAY FOOD!!!!

[@SonnyMeadows]

This is prob the best spit pea soup recipe in human history. No 🧢

[@OldSoul_0113]

I am making this as we speak! It smells and tastes heavenly when I tasted for salt. One question though- can I sub ground mustard for whole? And how much? LOVE YOU LALLI!

[@sh-nd4cs]

I get it ur worried about the appearance...SCREW THAT man that was GD delicious. Did it all..sofrito, oil, Dutch oven ...but I used chicken grease and smoked pap..thx again for letting us in ur awesome home♥️

[@jamesbrown4340]

Thank you.

[@tiffany4465]

You won me at the cartilage part :)

[@cookwithdrbrooke]

In lieu of ham hock you could also use bacon grease with the olive oil when sautéing the veggies. Would give that Smokey-porky flavor and I usually have some in the fridge :)

[@eximago]

My dad had some prepper tendencies, so I was raised to eat cartilage so that I might make it through an extreme survival scenario. I didn't realize this was weird until I was an adult and noticed friends looking on in horror as I gnawed the ends off my chicken legs.

[@Kekanunu]

Carla you missed the opportunity to say you have a “souper” mom😁 in the onomatopoeia boxes😉

[@leeroyallen1772]

ok. i started with chicken fat not olive oil..cause i had some, yum. and my grocery store didn't have a ham hock but I found bacon ends. They are the yummy chunks after the butcher slices bacon. Didnt try the sizzle spices (next time). This turned out awesome. Husband and I ate pretty much the whole pot through out the weekend.

[@StephDiane84]

The idea of cutting down a hock is very fascinating. Although it's a standard meat used in AA culture, if you cook it long enough, it will literally fall off the bone - no cutting necessary.

[@m.macdonald]

Oohhh. YUM. Can i sub in lentils? And would a Parmesan rind in place of the ham work or would that just take things to a weird place? As always, appreciate you thinking of your vegetarian viewers!

[@karinakapanzhi1731]

Is Carla also serving us split pea soup mani style? Love

[@euniquedavis5495]

Forgive me if I missed it but what brand of olive oil do you use? I don’t want to splurge on olive oil and find out it’s bad. Thanks!

[@joshuacampbell3675]

Yas yas yas obsessed sis

[@SuperWilliamW]

Liked for that Taiwanese QQ reference!

[@kinpatsu37]

I almost shot ice cream out my nose when I saw my tweet, thanks and ouch!

[@Coorvaldx]

Thank you for your vegetarian friend support (:

[@Ko1234567890S]

I'm with you, cartilage and skin are delicious

[@michaelcarriero4831]

What is the flat wooden stirring spoon? I’ve been looking for something like this.

[@benjaminkristilasiewicz4225]

They’re called spurtles

[@joni8762]

Smoky coconut aminos from TJs would be a great vegan replacement :) 🌱

[@selfintuition2]

Could you just make a large quantity of sofritto, cook it down properly, and then just divide it into portions and freeze it? Would it freeze well and not lose its flavour during the freezing proces?

[@CarlaLalliMusic123]

absolutely! I do this all the time. It is such a joy to have a few frozen pucks of soffritto at the ready!

[@dcseain]

Mirepoix is the base of 90% of delicious food!

[@ARamvall]

It took me almost a year, but I'm making this tomorrow *yum*

[@melissakemp2741]

I'm making this now, it's turning out right I feel, smells grrreat! No beer so using worsetereshire sauce 🤔

[@clem304]

cartilage is sooo yummy and umptuish

[@DDeniz-pq5sy]

It was a puntastic episode

[@jasperchieng]

Would mixing some soy sauce with liquid smoke give the same result as a smoked soy sauce?

[@goldiegreenwald9715]

To make this kosher-ish, can you use shmaltz instead of the Ham Hok or does it need to be solid because you have to remove it at the end?

[@kjdude8765]

Maybe a smoked turkey leg? To get the cured/smoked flavor.

[@goldiegreenwald9715]

@@kjdude8765 oo this is a great idea! Thank you KJ

[@joshbrz]

hey there! apologies if someone already asked, but what sort of knife is that? I can find similar ones online, but I really like the handle. TIA

[@dylanhunzeker6802]

It’s stewing now, do you recommend keeping the lid on the whole time?

[@TheGrrranimal]

Hit that Red Stripe, Carla. Do it!

[@MrJeremySF]

looks amazing. Is this written down anywhere on the internet? Or is the book the way to get the text version?

[@itsROMPERS...]

Almost everyone makes this the exact same way: sofrito/"mirepoix", ham/hamhock, water/stock, peas, and seasoning. I've watched many, and there's almost no variation.

[@andrewfenwick9099]

It is snowing right now here in jersey!

[@dylanhunzeker6802]

How high do you sauté the vegetables at the beginning for? And how high do you keep the heat when it’s stewing? And if I’m sober could I do apple cider vinegar?

[@janetwunder3000]

I was thinking instead of a ham hock, what do you think of smoked paprika? Also, liquid smoke? Or Goya ham soup or bouillon flavoring?

[@4themotherload]

Can we have a link to your pepper mill? Please 🥂

[@margiehall7219]

so how long do you cook it after adding the water?

[@CarlaLalliMusic123]

about an hour and a half

[@jmcosmos]

Well I mean ... cooking the cartilage from a ham hock until it turns into collagen, how is this different from cooking beef tendon to death when you make pho? Same thing, only different animals. And for those who think deboning a hock is too tedious ... well, what about boneless? Where I am, there's a company called Jamestown (they're in Kentucky) that sells boneless smoked ham hocks in cryovac packages of about three pounds each. I break them down into 8-ounce packages, freeze them, and fish out packages prn to make a soup or pulse with. Has anyone else tried this method?

[@CarlaLalliMusic123]

Exactly. Tendon is tendon!

[@tiacho2893]

I can't find deboned smoked ham hock in my area. And there's that old wisdom that the bone imparts flavour. So I have to cook it before it can be broken down (I cook it separately to make broth. It's kinda Korean/Japanese in approach.) My mom used to make a Korean dish called jokbal (pig's feet) and I remember her hating having to debone them.

[@jmcosmos]

@@tiacho2893 You got a point about the bones adding to the broth. Mostly I'm just being lazy about wrestling with 'em. 😁

[@tiacho2893]

@@jmcosmos Yeah. Jokbal is the deboned trotter that is then wrapped up into a cylinder like capicola. My mom would ONLY make it for company and I give the whole process a hard pass. I braise the hock the day before so I don't burn myself, the meat comes off more easily, and the broth comes out very gelatinous.

[@preuph]

This is similar to how I cook my collard greens. I start by making a stock with smoked ham hock, then debone it, and add it back into the greens.

[@caesarsalad77]

Gotta say, my favorite thing in a bowl of pho is tendon, so I'm all for putting the connective tissue into soup.

[@joannrosenberger827]

Making this right now, using tempeh bacon and vegan butter instead of ham hock!