Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Guiambo
Curaçao's okra soup: a thick, green Antillean gumbo of okra cooked down with salt beef, fish, and shrimp, served with a scoop of funchi.
Curaçaoan · medium · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 45 min
~222 cal · 31g protein · 10g carbs · 6g fat · 3g fiber · 3g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Guiambo (also jambo) is Curaçao's soup, an Antillean cousin of Louisiana gumbo, and the two even share a name that traces back to the Bantu word for , ki ngombo, carried across the Atlantic from West Africa. But the island version went its own way: no , no tomato, no long cooking, just a great deal of cooked until the soup turns thick, green, and gloriously slippery.
The pot is built on salted meats and seafood, salt beef, chunks of fish, shrimp, and often conch, simmered with sliced and a little basil until the breaks down and gives the soup its signature body. It is the mucilaginous texture that Curaçaoans prize, the long silky strings that rise from the bowl with the spoon.
Guiambo is humble, deeply savoury country cooking, served hot with a scoop of funchi, the local cornmeal , dropped into the bowl or set alongside.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
1 lb , sliced into rounds
8 oz salted beef, soaked overnight and diced
12 oz firm white fish, in chunks
8 oz shrimp, peeled
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh basil
1 Madame Jeanette or pepper, left whole
1 tbsp lime juice
to taste salt
to taste black pepper
Instructions
1
Soak the salted beef overnight, then rinse, cover with fresh water, and boil for 15 minutes; discard that water and set the meat aside.
✎ Chef’s note
The slipperiness of the okra is the whole point of guiambo, not a fault; the more okra breaks down, the better the soup.
2
In a large pot, simmer the salted beef with the onion, garlic, and enough fresh water to cover generously until tender, about 30 minutes.
3
Add the sliced okra and basil and cook, stirring often, until the okra breaks down and the soup turns thick and green, about 20 minutes.
4
Add the fish and shrimp and the whole hot pepper and simmer gently until the seafood is just cooked, about 5 minutes.
5
Lift out the pepper, brighten with the lime juice, season with salt and black pepper, and serve hot with funchi.
Willemstad country tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Willemstad. Funchi is the cornmeal that goes under everything, stirred stiff and turned out of the pan, and Papiamento names most of the rest: stoba for the stews, karni stoba with beef, kabritu stoba with goat. The island is dry and small, so the sea, the salt cod trade and the Dutch pantry did the supplying.
🗺️
Curaçao. Curaçao's Dutch-Caribbean cuisine is famous for keshi yena, a shell of Edam cheese stuffed with spiced meat. Iguana stew, funchi cornmeal, and Latin, African, and Dutch roots define the ABC-island table.
🌍
North America. Almost every regional cooking here records who arrived and on what terms. Enslaved West Africans brought rice, okra, black-eyed peas and the techniques behind Lowcountry and Creole food; Chinese railway labour and later Italian, Jewish, Mexican and Vietnamese arrivals built the way the cities eat; and Indigenous foodways sit underneath all of it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Curaçao
Keshi YenaA shell of Edam or Gouda cheese stuffed with spiced chicken, olives, capers, and raisins, then baked until molten.
Arepa di PampunaSweet Curaçaoan pumpkin pancakes, spiced with cinnamon and anise and fried until lacy-edged, a Dutch-Caribbean morning treat.
KadushiA thick, green cactus soup with salted fish and okra, a truly local Curaçaoan dish born of the arid island.
Browse all Curaçao recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Curaçao meal
Awa di LamunchiDrink
Bolo PretuDessert
Keshi YenaDinner
Similar dishes from around the world
Okra Soup (Sierra Leonean)Sierra Leone
FrittatensuppeAustria
KhinkaliGeorgia
Soup JoumouHaiti
Miyan Taushe (Pumpkin and Groundnut Soup)Niger
Pyongyang MandugukNorth Korea
Cuisine
Diet
Gluten-Free Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Recipes from Around the World
Nut-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Pork-Free Recipes from Around the World
Gluten-Free Lunches from Around the World
Dairy-Free Lunches from Around the World
Nut-Free Lunches from Around the World
Egg-Free Lunches from Around the World
Frequently asked questions
What is Guiambo?
Curaçao's okra soup: a thick, green Antillean gumbo of okra cooked down with salt beef, fish, and shrimp, served with a scoop of funchi.
Where does Guiambo come from?
Guiambo is a Curaçaoan dish from Willemstad, Curaçao.
Can Guiambo be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Guiambo recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Guiambo safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Guiambo take to make?
About 75 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 6.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.