So what's
Yakamein? You've probably never heard of it unless you
have spent some time in New Orleans. Yakamein is an easy
to make, hearty, beef, shrimp, and noodle soup with a little bit
of a kick. It's also know as "Old Sober". It's
supposed to be a cure for a hangover, but I can't vouch for
that. Every recipe I have ever seen for Yakamein uses
spaghetti noodles. Spaghetti is hard to eat in a soup with
a spoon, and soup is hard to eat with a fork, so we use
ditalini, small shells, or small elbows. They play well
with a soup spoon. The Yakamein in the photo above is made
with ditalini pasta. Lastly, Yakamein is normally served
with hard boiled eggs. We don't, but I have included hard
boiled eggs in the recipe if you would like to try them.
| Beef Seasoning |
|
| 1
tsp |
Creole
Seasoning (Tony's is the most
popular but we like The Stuff ) |
| 1 tbl |
soy sauce |
| Shrimp Seasoning |
|
| ½ tsp | Creole
seasoning |
| 1
tbl |
soy
sauce |
| Soup | |
| 1 to
1½ lbs |
chuck roast, cut into ½" pieces |
| 2
tbl |
canola oil |
| 8
cups |
beef
broth |
| 1 tbl |
Creole seasoning |
| 1 tbl |
soy sauce |
| 1 tbl |
Worcestershire sauce |
| 1 tsp |
onion powder |
| 1 tsp |
granulated garlic |
| 1
tsp |
dried oregano |
| 1
tsp |
dried thyme |
| 1 tsp |
paprika |
| ½ tsp |
black pepper, freshly ground |
|
1 lb |
pasta, ditalini, small shells, or small elbows |
| 1 lb |
small shrimp, peeled and deveined |
| ½ cup |
green onions, thinly sliced |
| 6 |
hard boiled eggs |
Now heat the oil
in a large pot or Dutch
oven over medium high heat. Add the beef
and sear it. Do not overcrowd it and cook in
batches if necessary.
When the beef has browned, add the beef broth along with the
Creole seasoning, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder,
granulated
garlic, oregano, thyme, paprika, and black pepper to the pot.
Stir well and bring to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered,
stirring occasionally,
until the beef is melt in your mouth tender, about 1 to 1½
hours.
When the beef is tender, add
the pasta and cook according to the directions on the box.
When the pasta is done cooking, turn off the
heat and add the shrimp. There will be
plenty of heat left to cook the shrimp.
Serve garnished
with a halved hard-boiled
egg and topped with green onions.