West Africa · Soup
Canja de Galinha (Savory Chicken and Rice Broth)
A rich, golden Cabo Verdean restorative chicken soup loaded with bone-in poultry, tender rice, and fresh herbs.
The story
Eaten across all nine inhabited islands of Cabo Verde, Canja de Galinha is the quintessential restorative dish, offered to nursing mothers, served during convalescence, and devoured at dawn after sleepless festival nights. The Cape Verdean version is substantially thicker and starchier than its Portuguese predecessor, traditionally made using a whole mature village hen (galinha da terra) whose collagen enriches the broth. An essential technical tradition involves simmering the chicken whole or in large bone-in cuts and lightly cracking long bones before boiling to release maximum marrow flavor.
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