How to Make a Dominican Sancocho
By Patricia Torres
ESL 0200
Sancocho is a soup that has various vegetables and one or more types of meat depending on your choice. Making a Sancocho is not very easy. It has many ingredients and it takes much time to prepare.
Ingredients
Chicken or Pork Chops
Spanish Pumpkin
Green Bananas
Green Plantains
White Yam (Taro)
Tocino
Yucca
Malanga
Onion
Green Bell Pepper
Naranja Agria (very, very sour oranges)
Cilantro
Oregano
Garlic (smashed)
Salt
Chicken Bouillon
White Vinegar
Water
How to prepare
The day before (to save some time), cook the meat and store it in the refrigerator. The way to cook it is the following:
- Cut the chicken into pieces, wash it with “naranja agria”, and take out the skin and excess grease. Add onions, garlic, bell pepper, tomatoes and salt. After half an hour, cook the chicken without adding tomato sauce. Add more water than usual so that you can use the resulting sauce. Do not let the chicken become too tender. (For pork chops cook them in the same way as the chicken).
- Cut the tocino in small pieces and pass them through hot vegetable oil (to give a nice color). Add some water and cook. Do not let the tocino become too tender.
- Peel the yucca, green bananas, green pleintains, malanga, Spanish pumpkin, white yam and cut all into small pieces. Put them in salt water so that they do not become black.
- In a large pot, put the salt and the water. Add the onions, bell pepper, cilantro, Spanish pumkin, green bananas, green plaintains and malanga. When they are getting tender, add all the other vegetables and the meat. Add tablespoons of oil, naranja agria, vinegar, garlic, check the salt. Do not let the Sancocho get too thick.
- Put the Spanish pumpkin in two portions: the first one to add thickness to the Sancocho and the second one to eat with the Sancocho. If some vegetables are too tender, take them out. When the Sancocho is done, put them in again. When done, you can serve the Sancocho with rice.