Sancocho (Dominican Hearty Stew) is without doubt Dominican's most cherished dish. Sancocho is usually made for special occasions, but you can enjoy it any day.
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The Dominican sancocho is synonymous with fiesta. In the Dominican Republic, we are spontaneous and happy people who do not need excuses to celebrate. Where there are two or more Dominicans a party can suddenly break out, but sometimes the occasion requires more planning and preparation. It is in that kind of occasions when it is indispensable that someone knows how to make a sancocho.
If it's your turn, our sancocho recipe is here to rescue you.
What is sancocho?
Let's start with the name: It's sancocho, not "salcocho".
Sancocho is a meat and roots-based stew that appears in different forms in several countries of Latin America, especially the countries bordering the Caribbean Sea. There are several Colombian sancochos, I've tried the Panamanian sancocho de gallina. There is a Venezuelan sancocho and a Puerto Rican sancocho. In some parts, they have sancocho with other names: Sancochado, Sopón, Olla de Carne, etc. As a funny note, in Cuba "sancocho" is a derogatory name that describes the food that is given to pigs.
In short, there are sancochos to spare, and each country has its own tastes in this regard.
Dominican Sancocho
In the Dominican Republic, there are also different versions of sancocho, these will depend on the taste of each family and of each cook. Some rules, though, seem to be almost universal: never add potatoes, noodles, or tomato sauce. The traditional sancocho is made with beef (usually flank, or similarly inexpensive cut), and sometimes chicken or a gallina vieja (an old hen) is also added. Sancocho de Siete Carnes is the deluxe version, and it has 7 types of meat from 4 different animals.
It is also worth mentioning the sancocho "prieto" ("prieto" means black in our country). It is so-called because by the long cooking at low temperatures it acquires a dark brown color, in contrast to the orange-brown color of the "normal" sancocho, which obtains much of its color from the auyama (pumpkin).
Sancocho is usually prepared on special occasions since it contains many ingredients and its preparation is long. However, the time it takes to prepare is the time that best passes with friends, while drinking a little rum or a cold beer.
More sancochos
I love experimenting and adapting our traditional recipes, so we now have a vegan sancocho so meatless aficionados can enjoy an approximation of our tasty stew. We also have a seafood sancocho that I absolutely love!
About this recipe
There are approximately 3.5 million recipes for sancocho (the number of Dominican households), so each Dominican cook will have things that they'll love, dislike, or be indifferent about. This particular recipe is, not only the "deluxe version of Dominican sancochos, but also the recipe favored by my family.
Go on the comments and let us know what's your sancocho secret tricks.
Buen provecho!
Sancocho de Siete Carnes Recipe (Seven Meat Hearty Stew)
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef for stews flank, chuck, or round [0.45 kg] cut into small pieces
- 1 lb goat meat [0.45 kg] cut into small pieces
- 1 lb pork for stews belly, or chump end [0.45 kg] cut into small pieces
- Juice of two limes
- 1 tsp cilantro or parsley chopped
- ½ tsp oregano powdered
- 1 tsp garlic crushed
- 1½ tsp salt
- 4 tbsp oil
- 1 lb chicken [0.45 kg] cut into small pieces
- 1 lb pork ribs [0.45 kg] cut into small pieces
- 1 lb bones from a smoked ham [0.45 kg] cut into small pieces
- 1 lb pork sausage longaniza [0.45 kg] cut into small pieces
- 2 corn cobs cut into ½-inch slices, optional
- ½ lb West Indian pumpkin (auyama) cut into 1-inch pieces [0.23 kg]
- 3 unripe plantains peeled, 2 cut into 1-inch pieces, one left whole
- ½ lb yam (ñame) cut into 1-inch pieces [0.23 kg]
- ½ lb malanga (yautia) cut into 1-inch pieces [0.23 kg]
- ½ lb cassava (yuca) cut into 1-inch pieces [0.23 kg]
Instructions
Seasoning the meat: Place the beef, pork, and goat meat in a large bowl and season with lime juice, cilantro (or parsley), oregano, garlic, and a teaspoon of salt. Coat meat with the seasoning. Marinate for at least half an hour, better an hour.-
Cooking the meat: In a large pot heat the oil over high heat, add the seasoned meats, and stir (be careful with hot oil splattering). Cook stirring until browned. Add the remaining meats and corn, and cook stirring for a couple of minutes.
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Adding water: Lower heat to medium and pour ½ galon [2.5 lt] of water. Simmer until it breaks the boil.
- Adding vegetables: Once the water breaks the boils, add auyama, chopped plantain, and root vegetables (ñame, yautía, yuca). Grate, or scrape with the knife the remaining plantain to make it into a pulp, add to the pot.
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Cooking vegetables: Simmer covered over low heat until the last ingredients you added are cooked through, it should have thickened a bit too. If it dries too much, add water as necessary, or simmer uncovered to reduce if it is not thick enough for your taste. Season with salt to taste. Remove from the heat.
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Serving: Serve hot accompanied with white rice (arroz blanco), avocado, and hot sauce on the side (best if you have agrio de naranja).
Video
Notes and Tips
Beef sancocho
The traditional sancocho is made with beef only (usually flank, or similarly inexpensive cut) and sometimes added chicken, however, the Sancocho de Siete Carnes (seven-meat Stew) is the deluxe version. If you want to make the simplified version, substitute all the other meats for an equivalent amount of beef, or beef and chicken combined.Cooking tricks
The trick to this dish is adding the ingredients from the longest-cooking to the shortest-cooking.Nutrition
How other countries make sancocho:
Colombian sancocho
Puerto Rican sancocho
Panamanian sancocho
Venezuelan sancocho
I used this recipe to help me learn how to make it. This recipe really helped me perfect it!! I tweaked certain ingredients since my mom didn't use them. But it's a great recipe and great guide if you aren't completely sure how to even start a sancocho!! its delicious!
IN the picture, I see in the background of picture is salad dressing? Do you have a recipe for that as well? THAnk you 🙂
Follow this one.
Even thought, I am New Yorker and Dominican knows how to make sancocho which is my most favorite dish and my dearest mom who passed away ( Andrea Dolores Collado, mi bailarina de merengue ripiao) used to make it for me. Up to now I still see Aunt Clara website… Read more »
no goat on sancocho..maybe smoked pork chops or smoke pork bones..But no goat..