A lot of people around me don’t like soup. And I don’t get it. One of my friends always says it’s just vegetables in water, but that’s not true. Personally, I’ll often have soup instead of a main course. If it’s well prepared, it’s more filling than other meals. I’ve only recently heard of a soup called Bori-bori. I’ve only made it once, but I have to say it definitely won’t be the last time. This dish is definitely not among the most delicious dishes in the world.

Bori-bori means “many balls”. This might have enticed some of my friends, because if there’s one soup they love, it’s usually the one with liver dumplings. In this case, however, the balls mean something else, namely peas, which are one of the dish’s main ingredients. Still, I would like to convince my friends to try the dish. It is delicious.

Chicken broth from Paraguay

Bori-bori has been described as the best soup in the world. Even though it’s seemingly just an ordinary broth. But this dish from Paraguay has many health benefits, tastes great, is filling and warming. The broth is prepared by slowly simmering a whole chicken with vegetables, specifically onions, tomatoes, peppers, peas and herbs.

“Regular consumption of broth can soothe an upset stomach and can be helpful for inflammation,” says registered dietitian Julia Zumpano. Light meat and vegetable soups are the best thing you can have when you’re not feeling well, she says. Broths are rich in amino acids and collagen, while vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals.

Bori-bori is a hearty soup full of vegetables. It will get you back on your feet even when you are sick. ━━ Bori-bori is a hearty soup full of vegetables. It will get you back on your feet even when you are sick. ( Source: Fusco Studio /  Unsplash+ )

Not only delicious dumplings will fill you up

The dumplings in the soup are rich and tasty. The dumplings are made of corn flour mixed with crumbled Paraguayan cheese. In some parts of the country, potatoes and pieces of pumpkin are also added to the soup. These can be blended and stirred into the broth later, so that it is then thicker overall, filling you up and you don’t have to have a main dish anymore.

Then everyone adds what they like to the soup. Some people add mushrooms in addition to different vegetables. The broth is seasoned with herbs, often basil, coriander. I personally did not add mushrooms or squash. But as I wrote in the introduction, I definitely didn’t make it last time, so next time I might make it a little differently and try which version is the best.