Cookbook:Sancocho

Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

| Caribbean cuisine

Sancocho, popular in the Dominican Republic, called by many its national dish.

Ingredients

Marinade and chicken:

• 1 large orange, juiced
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ¼ bunch curly parsley, large stems removed
• ¼ bunch cilantro, large stems removed
• 2 Tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound (about 500 g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

Soup:

• 1 Tablespoon clear oil, such as canola
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 4 cups water
• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch chunks
• 1 medium boiling potato, unpeeled and cut into bite-size chunks
• 1 green plantain, peeled and sliced into ½-inch thick slices (see Note)
• 1 ear corn, quartered
• 1 jalapeño or habanero chile, seeded and minced
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Hot cooked rice, optional
• Hot sauce, optional
• Chopped cilantro, optional

Procedure

Marinade:

1. In bowl of a food processor or blender, combine orange juice, lemon juice, parsley, cilantro, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper, and process until combined.
2. Pour mixture into a non-reactive bowl, add chicken and stir to combine.
3. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours.

Soup:

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. When hot, use a slotted spoon to lift the chicken out of the marinade and place in the pot, reserving marinade. Cook chicken until opaque, stirring occasionally.
2. Add reserved marinade, vegetable stock and water to the pot, and bring to a boil.
3. Add onion, sweet potato, potato, plantain, corn, jalapeño, salt and pepper.
4. Bring back to a boil, reduce to low and cook partially covered for 1 to 1½ hours.

Tips, Notes, and Variations

• To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with a small scoop of rice, if desired. Pass hot sauce and cilantro at the table.
• Because this soup has a long simmering time, choose an unripe green plantain rather than a ripe yellow or black-colored plantain, which has a softer texture.
• Each cook makes his own recipe for sancocho, combining root vegetables with different kinds of meat, some with up to seven meats.
• To make the soup even more authentic, add a small peeled cubed yuca root to the broth, along with the other vegetables.