Vegetable Sancocho Recipes

SANCOCHO (DOMINICAN MEAT AND VEGETABLES STEW)

Steps:

• Trim the excess fat of the meat and rinse well with lemon juice or vinegar.
• To season the meat, add 1 teaspoon dry adobo, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon oregano and sofrito. Mix it all together to coat the meat well.
• In a 6 qts pot or caldero, heat up oil over medium high heat. Add the meat to the pot, and sear until brown all around. Cover the pot with a lid and lower the heat to medium. Let the meat cook until tender, about 30 - 40 minutes. Be sure to add water as needed throughout so that the meat doesn't burn. Remove the meat from the pot and set it aside for later.
• While the meat cooks, peel and cut the vegetables into 1-inch pieces, except for the squash, which you want to peel and cut into two large pieces.
• Add all the vegetables to the pot and add water until you've filled ¾ of the pot. Bring to a boil. Do not overfill the pot because you will be adding in the meat later.
• When the water begins to boil, add the chicken bouillon and allspice or malagueta. Let it cook for about 15 - 20 minutes.
• When the squash is tender, remove it from the pot and blend it with ½ cup of liquid from the pot and ½ cup of cool water until the mixture is smooth. Then, pour it back into the pot.
• Using cooking twine, tie together tightly cilantro, culantro (cilantro ancho), and thyme and add it to the pot. Let it simmer on medium heat for about 20 more minutes.
• Stir in ½ teaspoon of adobo, ½ teaspoon of oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste.
• Add the meat back into the pot and let it all simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10 - 20 minutes.
• With a colander, remove the herbs bundle we added earlier and the malagueta.
• Stir in freshly squeezed lime juice before serving.
• Serve warm with white rice and avocado.

PUERTO RICAN SANCOCHO

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-low heat; add onion, garlic, cilantro, white pepper, oregano, and salt. Cook and stir until onion is browned and very tender, about 20 minutes. Add stew meat; cook and stir until meat is browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Pour enough water over meat mixture to fill pot 3/4 full; add tomato sauce and beef bouillon.
• Mix green beans, carrots, celery, chayote squash, white beans, cabbage, green banana, yellow plantain, llautias, potatoes, pumpkin, corn, and green bell pepper (in this order), cooking and stirring after each addition. Cook until all the vegetables are tender and stew has formed a rich broth, 2 to 3 hours. Add more water or salt if needed.

VEGETABLE SANCOCHO

Steps:

• Combine onion, pepper and oil in a 3-quart microwaveable dish. Cover and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Stir in turmeric.
• Peel and chop the vegetables, dropping them into cold water as they are cut (so they won't turn brown).
• Add the vegetables, along with the squash, to the onion mixture. Add 3 cups water, cover, and microwave for about 20 minutes until vegetables are fork tender.
• Add the plantains, tomatoes and cilantro and salt (it will take about 2 teaspoons of salt). Cover and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes longer. Don't drain -- mixture will absorb liquid on standing.

TRUE DOMINICAN SANCOCHO (LATIN 7-MEAT STEW)

Steps:

• Mash garlic, oregano, and 1 teaspoon salt together in a bowl.
• Douse chicken, beef, and pork with lemon juice in a large bowl. Drain half the liquid. Mix the mashed garlic, half of the onions, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, and vinegar into the meat mixture.
• Heat the remaining 1/2 cup vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meat mixture in batches and cook until browned on all sides, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer the browned meats into a large pot. Add half of the water, chicken broth, beef consomme, 2 bouillon cubes, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until meats are more than halfway cooked through, about 40 minutes.
• Combine pumpkin, sweet potatoes, eddeos, yuca, potatoes, plantains, corn, celery, carrots, green pepper, cilantro, and adobo seasoning in the simmering pot. Return soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low and continue simmering until the sancocho is thick and the root vegetables are soft, 1 to 2 hours. Stir in the remaining half of the water by gradual increments to replace any evaporated liquid.

SANCOCHO QUITENO - ECUADORIAN BEEF AND VEGETABLE SOUP

Steps:

• Place 2 qts water in large soup pot, with beef, onion, garlic pepper and cumin. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to med-low. It needs to simmer for at least one hour for meat to get tender.
• Cut the corn into 2" rounds. Set aside.
• Peel the yucca and remove the fibrous string in the center. Cube & set aside.
• When the meat is tender, add rice, peas, peeled plantain in one piece, carrots and the yucca.
• When the yucca is soft, after about 20-30 minutes, add salt to taste, the last 1/2 quart water and a whole stem of cilantro and a whole stem of parsley. Cook for 5 minutes.
• Remove the parsley and cilantro stems and discard.
• Remove the meat, cut up into bite-size pieces and return to the soup.
• Remove the plantain, cut up into bite-size pieces and return to the soup.
• Mix the finely chopped onion and cilantro for garnish and sprinkle on top of the soup when served.