Sancocho
Sancocho is cooked across the Caribbean and northern South America — in the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela and Panama, everywhere a little differently. The common thread is meat simmered with root vegetables: cassava, plantain, pumpkin and corn on the cob, until the broth thickens with their starch. It is a festive, family dish, cooked in a huge pot for a crowd. In the Caribbean it is served with rice, a wedge of lime and avocado. The key is adding the vegetables in order of hardness so everything is ready at the same moment.
Your own work in that: 5 min.
- Preparation 25 min
- Simmering the meat 45 min
- Root vegetables 30 min
- Serving 5 min
Step by step
0 / 8 donePrepare the vegetables
Peel the cassava (its thick waxy skin comes off most easily if you score it lengthwise with a knife, taking the pinkish layer underneath with it) and remove the woody core. Peel the plantains and cut into thick rounds, cut the pumpkin and potatoes into large chunks and the corn cobs into 3 cm rounds — frozen cobs work too.
Ingredients: 400 g cassava (yuca), fresh or frozen · 2 pcs green plantains · 300 g pumpkin · 300 g potatoes · 2 pcs corn cobs · 1 bunch coriander · 1 pcs lime
Big pieces — they must survive half an hour of cooking.Brown the chicken
Heat the oil in a large pot (about 7 litres — the meat and vegetables alone come to nearly 2.5 kg) and brown the chicken pieces in batches, 5 minutes per batch, about 10 minutes in all. Move to a plate.
Ingredients: 1000 g chicken thighs and drumsticks · 2 tbsp rapeseed oil · 1 pcs onion · 4 cloves garlic · 1 pcs green pepper · 1 tsp ground cumin · 1 tsp dried oregano · 2000 ml water · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Fry the aromatics
In the same pot fry the chopped onion, pepper and garlic for 5 minutes, add the cumin and oregano and fry half a minute.
Ingredients: 1000 g chicken thighs and drumsticks · 2 tbsp rapeseed oil · 1 pcs onion · 4 cloves garlic · 1 pcs green pepper · 1 tsp ground cumin · 1 tsp dried oregano · 2000 ml water · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Onion, pepper and garlic — Caribbean sofrito.Simmer the chicken
Return the chicken, add the water and salt and bring to the boil. Skim and simmer covered for 30 minutes, until the meat comes away from the bone (at least 75°C at the bone).
Ingredients: 1000 g chicken thighs and drumsticks · 2 tbsp rapeseed oil · 1 pcs onion · 4 cloves garlic · 1 pcs green pepper · 1 tsp ground cumin · 1 tsp dried oregano · 2000 ml water · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Add cassava and plantain
Add the cassava, plantains and corn and cook 20 minutes — these are the toughest pieces.
Ingredients: 400 g cassava (yuca), fresh or frozen · 2 pcs green plantains · 300 g pumpkin · 300 g potatoes · 2 pcs corn cobs · 1 bunch coriander · 1 pcs lime
Cassava and plantain go in first.Add the rest
Add the potatoes and pumpkin and cook another 10–12 minutes, until everything is tender and the pumpkin starts to collapse and thicken the broth.
Ingredients: 400 g cassava (yuca), fresh or frozen · 2 pcs green plantains · 300 g pumpkin · 300 g potatoes · 2 pcs corn cobs · 1 bunch coriander · 1 pcs lime
Thicken
Crush a few pieces of pumpkin and potato against the side of the pot — sancocho should be thick, almost a stew. Season with salt and pepper.
Ingredients: 400 g cassava (yuca), fresh or frozen · 2 pcs green plantains · 300 g pumpkin · 300 g potatoes · 2 pcs corn cobs · 1 bunch coriander · 1 pcs lime
Serve
Stir in the chopped coriander. Ladle into deep bowls so each has a piece of meat and a piece of every vegetable. Serve with lime wedges and, if you like, plain white rice (optional).
Ingredients: 400 g cassava (yuca), fresh or frozen · 2 pcs green plantains · 300 g pumpkin · 300 g potatoes · 2 pcs corn cobs · 1 bunch coriander · 1 pcs lime
Before you start
Cassava and plantains
Fresh cassava and green plantains are sold in Asian, African and Latin American shops, and peeled frozen cassava in many supermarkets. Cassava is never eaten raw: the raw root contains cyanogenic glycosides, so it must be peeled thoroughly and boiled until completely tender. Without it, add another 300 g of potatoes; do not swap green plantains for unripe bananas — more potato is the better stand-in.
With beef
Dominican sancocho often uses several meats at once. Add 400 g of stewing beef and simmer it for an hour before the chicken goes in.
Storage
It keeps 3 days in the fridge and thickens a lot — add water when reheating. It freezes for 2 months, though the potatoes soften.
