Paraguay - vori vori de pollo

We start our journey in Paraguay! Why Paraguay? no reason whatsoever, we know nobody from there (we think) and we have never visited, but it has a native language as an official language and is the only country in South America where a substantial part of the non-indigenous population speak a indigenous language (Guaraní). Respect.

And what did we choose to cook from this country?

Well, Paraguayan cuisine has a number of possibilities and the national dish (Sopa paraguaya) was an option but a dish that is called a soup but is like corn bread was a bit confusing so we ended up with Vori Vori - a soup with dumplings of cheese and corn flour. Specifically we decided to go for Vori Vori de pollo from 196 flavors.

Most of the ingredients were easy to find, the main challenge was the queso paraguayo, for which we substituted mozzarella (grated mozzarella was not a good choice - fresh next time!) and scallions which are always impossible to find here in northern Portugal so we went for leek, which at least is a close relative of the scallions!

 The soup ended up a bit redder than what we had expected but it was very tasty. The small dumplings were fun to make (after enough liquid was taken from the soup to bind the too dry grated Mozzarella) but did not taste very cheesy. 

Overall, a pleasant introduction to Paraguayan cuisine (thankfully, given we have plenty of leftovers!)