Hector RodriguezLatin Caribbean Food Guide
Most people associate sancocho with a traditional Dominican soup or stew overflowing with several large cuts of meat and viandas (also known as
ground provisions or root vegetables). However, sancocho isn’t just a Dominican dish. It’s a traditional stew or soup with several ingredient variations throughout Latin American and Caribbean cuisines.
The word sancocho comes from the Spanish verb sancochar, which means to parboil. Most likely, the recipe was brought to Latin America and the Caribbean with the Portuguese and Spanish colonists who prepared cocido, a stew consisting of different meats and vegetables, with regional ingredients. It can be simple or elaborate, such as the following recipe (my adaptation) of Seven Meat Sancocho, which is usually prepared for special occasions in the Dominican Republic. It takes a long time to prepare and requires many ingredients, but is well worth the effort. You can serve it by itself or with
white rice, sliced avocado and/or
tostones.
Cook's Note: In my adaptation, the meats are pre-cooked before the sancocho is made.
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 5 hours
Yield: Approximately 10 servings
Ingredients:
2 pounds longaniza sausage
1/2 pound salt pork
cooking oil (to brown the meats)
1 1/2 pounds chicken pieces (washed in lime or sour orange juice)
1/2 pound beef stew meat
2 teaspoon Worcester sauce
4 smoked pork chops
4 fresh pork chops (washed in lime or sour orange juice)
1/2 pound goat stew meat (washed in lime or sour orange juice)
1 teaspoon of capers
1 teaspoon cooking wine
2 quarts of water
4 garlic cloves (peeled and crushed)
2 small red onions (peeled and chopped)
1 red peppers (washed, seeded, chopped)
1 celery stalk (washed, chopped)
3 cubes chicken bullion
1 cube beef bullion
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bunch cilantro (washed, finely chopped)
2 large green plantains (peeled, cut into 1 inch rounds)
1 cups white sweet potato (washed, peeled, cubed)
1 cups yuca (washed, peeled, cubed)
1 cups yautía (washed, peeled, cubed)
1 cups ñame (yam - (washed, peeled, cubed)
1 cups calabaza (pumpkin - (washed, peeled, cubed)
2 ears of corn (cleaned and cut into 1 ½ inch rounds)
1 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoons of salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste
Preparation:
Cook the sausage, set aside, and allow to cool.
Brown the salt pork in cooking oil, set aside, and allow to cool.
In a heavy skillet, over medium heat, brown all sides of the chicken in about a tablespoon of cooking oil. While the chicken is browning, dissolve 1/2 cube chicken bullion in 1/4 cup of hot water. Pour the liquid over the chicken. Add 1 crushed clove of garlic and 1/4 teaspoon oregano to the chicken mixture. Cover, reduce to medium low heat, and cook for 30 minutes until chicken is tender, set aside, and allow to cool.
In a heavy skillet, over medium heat, brown the beef in about a tablespoon of cooking oil. While the beef is browning, dissolve 1/2 cube beef bullion in 1/4 cup of hot water. Pour the liquid over the beef. Add 1 crushed clove of garlic and 1/4 teaspoon oregano to the mixture. Cover, reduce to medium low heat, and cook for 30 minutes until beef is tender, set aside, and allow to cool.
Cook the smoked pork chops, set aside, and allow to cool.
In a heavy skillet, over medium heat, brown both sides of the fresh pork chops. While the chops are browning, dissolve 1/2 cube chicken bullion in 1/4 cup of hot water. Pour the liquid over the pork chops. Add 1 crushed clove of garlic and 1/4 teaspoon oregano to the chops. Cover, reduce to medium low heat, and cook for 30 minutes until chops are tender, set aside, and allow to cool.
In a heavy skillet, over medium heat, brown the goat meat in about a tablespoon of cooking oil. While the meat is browning, dissolve 1/2 cube chicken bullion in 1/2 cup of hot water. Pour the liquid over the meat. Add 1 crushed clove of garlic, 1/4 teaspoon oregano, the capers, and cooking wine to the meat. Cover, reduce to medium low heat, and cook for 45 minutes or until done, set aside, and allow to cool.
In a very large soup pot, bring 2 quarts (8 cups) of water to a boil. Add the remaining chicken and beef bullion, onions, peppers, celery, and cilantro. Boil for 10 minutes.
Add plantains, white sweet potato, yuca, yautía, ñame, calabaza, and corn. Add more water if needed. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.
Cut the sausage and pork chops into pieces and add all meats to the pot. Adjust water liquid as needed and cook over moderate heat for 45 minutes. Add the vinegar, salt, and pepper near the end of the cooking time.
During cooking, you may need to scrape off any foam on top of the stew. Also, if broth is too thin, you may thicken it by removing some of the
calabaza, allowing it to cool, puree it, and add it back to the pot.
