Taste of Home: Sancocho

Last night, I cooked Sancocho, a traditional dish from Dominican Republic in Latin America, and I would like to share it with you. The Sancocho I made was a beef stew with yucca, plaintins, butternut squash and corn.

Sancocho

Sancocho is derived from a Spanish stew called cocido, and it has many variations depending on the region in Latin America.

In the Philippines, reflecting our Spanish influence, we also call it Cocido, a hearty stew usually eaten with fish, beef shanks, pork, ham and chorizo. It is often confused with a dish called Pochero, a stew also originally from Spain, which is usually cooked with chicken, beef, and sausages.

Sancocho is one of those dishes that get even better after being re-heated the next day.

Sancocho

Ingredients:

• 1 kilogram of beef , sliced into bite size
• 2 pieces of corn, peeled and cut into 1 inch
• 2 pieces of big sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 5 pieces of green plaintins, peeled and sliced into 1 inch size
• ½ kilogram of butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes
• 2 pieces of yucca, peeled and sliced into 1 inch thick
• 1 piece red pepper, chopped
• 1 piece big onion, sliced
• 1 kilogram of baby potatoes
• 1 ball garlic, minced
• 1 sprig cilantro
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 6 pieces bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons  grilled black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 pinches oregano
• 2 pinches thyme
• 2 cubes beef stock

How to make Sancocho:

1. Marinate the beef with soy sauce and ground black pepper for about 20 minutes.
2. Drizzle olive oil in a large cooking pot. Then sautéed the garlic and onion.
3. When the onions are soft, put in the beef. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the meat turns white in color.
4. Add 2 liters of water and beef stock cubes. Bring it a boil. While the stew is boiling, prepare the vegetables.
5. When the stew starts boiling, lower down the heat to medium. Put in all the vegetables – red bell pepper, butternut squash, sweet potatoes baby potatoes, green bananas, and corn. Let it cook for about 1 hour and 45 minutes or until stock has reduced and meat is tender and vegetables are soft. Keep stirring it regularly (every after 15 minutes). While it is cooking, you would noticed that the pumpkin and sweet potatoes have melted.
6. Serve stew with sliced avocado, a slice of lime and rice. Share and enjoy!

Taste of Home: Sausage, Chicken and Chorizo Paella

We have eaten and enjoyed many Paellas before, a famous rice dish in North Africa. Since then, it has become one of the three North African dish (Paella, Taboule, Cous cous) that we really love because it is tasty and nutritious. It has a bit of everything in it – cereal (rice), meat and veges.

Sausage, Chicken and Chorizo Paella

In our family, it is always Alan who cooks Paella, and because of my love for the dish, I tried to learn how to cook it from him. And to me, cooking Paella is one of the incredibly beautiful cooking experiences I’ve ever had.

In our recipe we use pork sausages even though the original recipe does not use pork. We also use Jasmine rice since it is the main rice variety produced in Cambodia. We also tried making Paella with pepperoni instead of Chorizo, and it also tasted great.

For those who would like to make Paella, here’s our simple recipe. Please let us know what you think of it.

Chicken and Sausage Paella

Ingredients for 10 servings:

• 1 kilogram of chicken breast, cut into cubes
• 200 grams of pork sausage, sliced
• 225 grams of Chorizo, sliced
• 2 kilograms of tomatoes, sliced
• 2 big onions, sliced
• 1 kilogram of sweet green peas
• 12 grams of Paprika
• 2 teaspoon of Oregano
• 2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 5 table spoons of soy sauce
• 2 table spoons of Olive oil
• ¼ cup Cooking oil
• 75 cL of water

 

Method:

Step 1: Marinate the chicken

• Put the chicken in a bowl. Add 2 grams of paprika. Add black pepper and soy sauce according to your taste. Mix it well.
• Marinate it for about 30 minutes.

Step 2: Prepare the vegetables and Chorizo mixture

• Put the tomatoes and onions in a pan. Let it cook until the tomatoes have melted (approximately 15 minutes) above a low heat.
• Stir regularly.
• Once the tomatoes have melted, add the green peas and Chorizo.
• Mix it well.
• Then turn off the heat.

Step 3: Cook the sausages

• In a separate pan, cook the sausages above a gentle fire for about 10 minutes (or until it is cooked).

Step 4: Cook the chicken

• In a separate pan, put olive oil.
• Put in the chicken and let it cook above a medium heat for about 18 minutes.

Step 5: Prepare the rice

• Put cooking oil in a cooking pot.
• Put 10 grams of paprika and a bit of oregano. Then mix it well.
• Add 4 cups of Jasmine rice. Mix it well. Then fry it above a gentle fire for about 5 minutes or when the rice becomes whiter than usual with the pot uncovered.
• Add water. Stir and cover the pot.
• Stir it regularly so that it will not stick to the pan. You would notice that the rice is cooking because its volume is expanding.
• Let it cook above a gentle fire for about 15 minutes.

Step 6: Putting everything together

• Once the rice is cooked, put in all the other ingredients in the pot.
• Mix it thoroughly.

Serve, share and I hope you enjoy it the way we do.