Larry Kandarian's Longevity Stew Recipe | Civil Eats

Larry Kandarian’s Longevity Stew Recipe

The recipe for Larry Kandarian's balanced array of grains, plants, legumes, and spices incorporated into bone broth—what he calls the secret to his longevity.

Editor’s note: As part of our profile of California organic farmer Larry Kandarian, we asked him to share the recipe of his Longevity Stew, which reporter Clarissa Wei described as “a balanced array of grains, plants, legumes, and spices incorporated into bone broth.” Kandarian lets his broth sit for months on end, but you can just as easily cook a bowl made to order. His instructions and notes are below; bon appetit!

My Longevity Stew is made with seasonal, fresh, organic ingredients, including the most important ingredient of all—love. Underlined ingredients are staples I always include in my recipe. I encourage you to experiment with all the other ingredients to make the Longevity Stew your own.

Start by bringing the broth to a boil and adding the ingredients of your choice. Reduce to a simmer and take out a pint and a half to eat at the time of cooking. After the first serving, add additional ingredients of your choice and keep the soup at a low simmer through the meal (approximately 30 minutes). Store the soup in your refrigerator and repeat the process the next day.

Base: Beef, bison, or vegetable organic, low-sodium broths—bone broth and chanterelle mushroom liquor.

Vegetables: Bok choy, brussels sprouts, broccoli, broccoli raab, black mustard florets and leaf, carrots, cauliflower, chayote, Chinese cabbage, Chinese celery, cilantro, edamame, eggplant, epazote, garlic chives, green onions, huauzontle, leeks, lorocco, mizuna, peppers (any kind), spinach, squash (summer varietals including opo), snap peas, tomatillos, tomatoes, wasabi, mustard herb, wild radish florets and nopales (cactus).

Fungus: Chanterelles or crimini. (Always include at least one fungus.)

Sprouts: Bean or soybean.

Sea vegetables: Kelp or other.

newsmatch 2023 banner - donate to support civil eats

Tubers: Cassava, camote del cerro, garlic cloves, ginger, potatoes (fingerling, colored), sunchokes, tiger nuts, white sweet potatoes, and yucca root.

Ground spices: Black peppercorns and turmeric.

Pasta: Adzuki bean, buckwheat soba, edamame spaghetti, mung bean, phở noodles, or wheat with squid ink.

Herbs: Celery, lovage, and parsley.

Spices: Ajowan, coriander, and khella.

We’ll bring the news to you.

Get the weekly Civil Eats newsletter, delivered to your inbox.

Grains: Amaranth, black barley, buckwheat, purple corn, einkorn farro, emmer farro, Ethiopian blue tinge farro, kañiwa, medley, millet, nude oats, quinoa, rye, White Sonora wheat, triticale, teff, turkey red wheat, or sprouted rice medley. (Always include at least one grain.)

Beans: Adzuki, black eyes, black turtle, favas, favitas, garbanzos, Jacob’s Cattle, Kenearly yellow eye, Pervana, Scarlet Runner, Christmas Limas, yellow or green peas.

Kandarian’s six-month stew. (Photos © Clarissa Wei)

Clarissa Wei is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the food and agriculture editor of Hyphen Magazine. Read more >

Like the story?
Join the conversation.

More from

General

Featured

A tractor rollover accident with a farm tractor on its side in a ditch.

Tractor Rollovers Kill Dozens on Farms Each Year—and a Prevention Program Is at Risk

The most ubiquitous tool on America’s farms is also the most dangerous. And a nationwide program to help farmers install safety devices on their tractors is at risk of losing funding next year, unless Congress takes action.

Popular

The Government Spends Billions on Food. Who Benefits?

Volunteers from DTE Energy pack prepackaged boxes for delivery to churches and homebound seniors at Focus: HOPE, a local agency located in Detroit, Michigan that operates the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) in a client choice model so that participants can select the foods they want. (Photo credit: Preston Keres, USDA)

This Indigenous Cook Wants to Help Readers Decolonize Their Diets

author Sara Calvosa Olson and the cover of her book about indigenous foods and foodways, Chimi Nu'am. (Photo courtesy of Sara Calvosa Olson)

This #GivingTuesday, Help Us Celebrate Our Successes

prize winning squash for giving tuesday!

Can Virtual Fences Help More Ranchers Adopt Regenerative Grazing Practices?

A goat grazing with one of them virtual fencing collars on its neck. (Photo credit: Lisa Held)