Changua
Changua is the breakfast soup of Bogotá and the Andean regions of Cundinamarca and Boyacá, with a long home-cooking tradition: milk and water, spring onion, an egg dropped into the hot liquid and stale bread in the bottom of the bowl. It sounds odd, but it is one of those dishes that warms and fills in a quarter of an hour — at about 2,600 m, Bogotá mornings are cool all year. The egg should stay soft and the bread should soak up the soup. Coriander on top is the classic finish.
Your own work in that: 5 min.
- Preparation 5 min
- Cooking 10 min
- Serving 5 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneSlice the spring onion
Slice the spring onions thinly, keeping the white and green parts separate.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 250 ml water · 3 pcs spring onions · 2 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
Heat milk and water
Pour the milk and water into a wide pan, add the white parts of the onion and the salt. Heat over medium heat until it trembles — do not let it boil over.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 250 ml water · 3 pcs spring onions · 2 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
Milk with water — milk alone would be too heavy.Prepare the bowls
Lay the stale bread slices in the bottom of two deep bowls.
Ingredients: 4 pcs slices of stale white bread (about 30 g each) · 3 tbsp coriander
Bread at the bottom soaks up the soup.Add the eggs
Slip the eggs in one at a time, carefully, so the yolks stay whole.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 250 ml water · 3 pcs spring onions · 2 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
Slip them in gently, yolks intact.Poach the eggs
Cook over low heat for 4 minutes without stirring, until the whites set and the yolks stay soft. For firm yolks, cook 7 minutes.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 250 ml water · 3 pcs spring onions · 2 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
Season
Season with salt and pepper. Taste — it should be clearly salty, or the milk tastes flat.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 250 ml water · 3 pcs spring onions · 2 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
Fill the bowls
Lift the eggs onto the bread with a slotted spoon and ladle the hot milk over.
Ingredients: 4 pcs slices of stale white bread (about 30 g each) · 3 tbsp coriander
Finish and serve
Scatter with the green parts of the onion and the coriander. Serve at once, before the bread dissolves entirely.
Ingredients: 4 pcs slices of stale white bread (about 30 g each) · 3 tbsp coriander
Before you start
Soft yolks
A soft yolk is not safe for children, pregnant women, the elderly or anyone immunocompromised — cook theirs 7 minutes until fully set.
Variations
Some households add a spoonful of cream or a piece of cheese that melts into the hot milk. There is also a version with diced potatoes, cooked in the milk for 10 minutes before the eggs go in.
Storage
Changua is made and eaten at once — reheated milk soup curdles and the egg toughens. It does not freeze.
