Category
Main Dish
Servings
10-12 people
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 30 minutes
One of the things that I miss the most about my island, apart from the beautiful beaches with white sands and crystal-clear waters, is my mother’s Sancocho. It is definitely one of the main excuses for me to come back.
Like all Dominicans living abroad, when arriving at the airport, we will have for sure that a rich sancocho and a “fría vestida de novia” awaiting for us at home (“fría vestida de novia” it’s how we call the super cold beers in Dominican Republic, due to the white layer that is forms outside of the bottle because of the excess of cold – a whole technique to patent!). Writing these lines makes me want to take that plane at this moment ….
Sancocho is a typical dish, not only from Dominican Republic, but also from countries such as Colombia, Panama and Venezuela. It has a great Spanish and African influence. It is believed that the first sancocho in the region was imported by the Canaries and over time it was adapted to each country. It is also evident the African influence in this iconic dish, due to the ingredients that we use in our country such as plantain bananas, yam or yautía.
In our island it is definitely one of the most representative meals of our culinary culture. We prepare it at parties, at family gatherings, before any rain, in short, we prepare it with any excuse, but its purpose is always the same, to please our loved ones. It is one of those dishes that have no social level, since it is preparing in the same way in low-income households as in the homes of the more affluent. Outside the island, when two or three Dominicans meet abroad, they end up organizing always a sancocho. It is also part of our popular slang. For a Dominican to say that “el día está para un sancochito” means that it is cloudy, it is raining, or it is a bit cold. When we say, “te volviste un sancocho“, it means that you are mixing too many things at the same time and, when planning any informal meeting, the call is usually “let’s make a sancocho“.
My mother’s sancocho is special. She puts her soul and her heart at it (as well as half a supermarket !! 🙂 ) and makes each of us forget about diets and repeat more than once. She always accompanies it with that white rice that only she knows how to prepare, a slice of avocado and that crispy concón (the part of the rice that sticks to the pot when cooking it), that no matter how much I try, I do not achieve the same result.
I will not extend it more, because abstinence syndrome comes to me suddenly.
I share the recipe of my mother and I hope you can prepare it for your loved ones and manage to reproduce in them the same sensations that all Dominicans feel when sitting at the table to taste this dish, which is one of our main culinary treasures. Let’s go there!!!
Ingredients
- ½ kg chicken meat
- ½ kg beef breast
- ½ kg smoked pork chops
- ½ kg chorizo
- Approximately three liters of meat stock
- Two medium plantain bananas
- 3 green bananas
- 300 gr corn on the cob
- 600 gr pumpkin
- 600 gr yautia
- 600 gr of yuca
- 1 ½ large onions
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 1 small branch of celery
- 1 small branch of cilantro
- 4 leaf of tropical cilantro
- 1 green sweet pepper
- 2 sour oranges
- 1 tablespoon of oregano
- 4 spoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to will
Directions
Wash the meats and cut them into approximately 3×3 cm pieces. Season them in a bowl and set them aside to use later..
Cut the onion and the green bell pepper finely. Cut plantain banana, green banana, yautía, cassava, pumpkin and corn into squares of approximately 3×3 cm.
In a mortar, put garlic, half cilantro branch, half parsley branch, a teaspoon of salt and oregano and mash with the pestle.
Make a bouquet with the rest of parsley, the rest of cilantro and celery, tied with kitchen thread.
Season the meats separately with the crushed garlic, sour orange juice, oregano, onion, sweet green pepper, salt and pepper.
In a separate bowl, mix plantain, banana, yautia, cassava, corn and half of the pumpkin with the seasoned chicken. Cover and let rest a bit.
In a big thick-bottomed pot, place two tablespoons of oil and start sautéing the pork chops. Add the beef breast and the chorizo. Let cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, paying attention not to let them burn. Add a little of the beef stock if necessary. After 15 minutes, cover with enough beef stock and add the rest of the pumpkin and the bouquet with celery, parsley and cilantro. Let it cook over medium-low heat for an additional 15 minutes, eliminating the foam that is forming on the surface.
In a second pan add two tablespoons of oil. Add the brown sugar and let it brown (do not burn). Place the chicken and move to avoid burning the sugar. Cook the chicken for about 15 minutes. Also adding beef stock if necessary.
Add plantain, banana, pumpkin, yautía, cassava and corn to the meat in the big pot. Let cook 15 more minutes and then add the chicken as well.
Take out the bouquet with parsley, coriander and celery and discard. Blend half of the pumpkin, half of the yautia and plantain and put again in the pot. Check the salt and pepper, cook for 5-10 more minutes, constantly removing the foam that is forming on the surface. Turn off the heat and let stand a few minutes before serving.
Accompany the sancocho with a little white rice, concón (crunchy rice) and a slice of avocado. Add a few drops of hot chili sauce, if it’s your preference.
