Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Pindasoep met Tom Tom
A rich, gently spicy Surinamese peanut soup with chicken and a whole hot pepper, served over tom tom, soft dumplings of mashed green plantain.
Surinamese · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 60 min
~773 cal · 59g protein · 47g carbs · 40g fat · 7g fiber · 21g sugars · 9g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Pindasoep, Surinamese peanut soup, carries the taste of West Africa across the Atlantic. Brought by enslaved Africans to the plantations of Suriname, the groundnut soup took local root and became a Creole classic, eaten at Christmas, at gatherings, and whenever comfort is called for.
Chicken is simmered with onion, celery, allspice and bay into a fragrant broth, then natural peanut butter is loosened with a ladle of it and stirred back in to turn the soup thick and nutty. A whole Madame Jeanette pepper bobs on top, kept intact so it lends its perfume without unleashing its full heat. The finishing touch is tom tom, dumplings of boiled green mashed and rolled into balls that sit in the bowl and soak up the soup.
Rich, savoury and warming, pindasoep met tom tom is one of the dishes Surinamese families miss most when they are far from home, a bowl that tastes of holidays and of a shared history.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, 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 4
1.5 lb chicken pieces on the bone
1 cup natural peanut butter
8 cups water
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 whole allspice berries
1 bay leaf
1 Madame Jeanette or habanero pepper, left whole
to taste salt and black pepper
2 green (for tom tom)
Instructions
1
Simmer the chicken with the water, onion, celery, garlic, allspice and bay leaf until the chicken is tender and the broth is rich, about 40 minutes, skimming as needed.
2
Ladle a cup of the hot broth into a bowl, whisk the peanut butter into it until smooth, then stir this back into the pot.
3
Lower to a gentle simmer, lay the whole pepper on top, and cook another 15 minutes so the soup thickens and takes on the pepper's aroma.
✎ Chef’s note
Leave the pepper whole and never let it burst; punctured, a single Madame Jeanette will make the whole pot too fiery to eat. Lift it out before serving.
4
Meanwhile peel the green plantains and boil them in salted water until soft, about 20 minutes, then mash with a pinch of salt and roll into small balls, the tom tom.
5
Season the soup, remove the pepper, and serve hot over a few tom tom in each bowl.
Surinamese Creole home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Paramaribo. Pom is a substitution that turned into a tradition. Portuguese Jewish plantation families made a potato dish for the sabbath; potatoes would not grow here, so the grated corm of the pomtajer went in instead, with chicken and a sharp hit of bitter orange. The local line is that without pom there is no birthday.
🗺️
Suriname. The Javanese layer arrived by contract. Between 1890 and 1939 roughly thirty-three thousand labourers were brought from the Dutch East Indies to Surinamese plantations, and most stayed; their descendants' cooking is now standard national food, including saoto soup served with fried potato strings and a Madame Jeanette pepper soy sauce. Hindostani indenture had begun earlier, from 1873.
🌍
South America. South America's cooking follows its dramatic geography, potatoes and quinoa in the high Andes, cassava and river fish in the Amazon basin, and grass-fed beef on the pampas. Indigenous ingredients like maize, ají peppers, and cacao meet Spanish, Portuguese, African, Italian, and Japanese influences brought by five centuries of migration. Ceviche, feijoada, arepas, and the smoke of the asado are its most beloved icons.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Suriname
PomA festive baked casserole of grated pomtajer root and citrus-marinated chicken, crisp on top and tangy within.
BaraLittle savory fried rings of ground urdi and flour, green with chopped tajer leaf and heavy with masala, eaten hot with chutney or sambal.
Roti met KipGriddled split-pea roti served with a curried chicken, potato, and long-bean masala, Suriname's signature plate.
Browse all Suriname recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Rolling pin, Whisk.
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 Suriname meal
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Bojo CakeDessert
Moksi AlesiLunch
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Pindasoep met Tom Tom?
A rich, gently spicy Surinamese peanut soup with chicken and a whole hot pepper, served over tom tom, soft dumplings of mashed green plantain.
Where does Pindasoep met Tom Tom come from?
Pindasoep met Tom Tom is a Surinamese dish from Paramaribo, Suriname.
Can Pindasoep met Tom Tom be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Pindasoep met Tom Tom 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 Pindasoep met Tom Tom 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 Pindasoep met Tom Tom take to make?
About 85 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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