An iconic Dominican breakfast, the very popular Mangú con Los Tres Golpes is one of the best representations of our gastronomy. A day can only start well and get better when started with one of our most loved breakfast meals. Let me show you just easy it is to make this.
Why we ❤️ it
Generally, breakfast in the Dominican Republic nowadays is a light meal, as most of us have moved out of the campos and into sedentary jobs that do not require a heavy morning meal with a long preparation.
Don't miss reading some curious facts about the origins of the name.
What is "los tres golpes"?
Los Tres Golpes is the name given by Dominicans to the best-known breakfast of the Dominican cuisine, consisting of fried Dominican-style salami, fried cheese, and fried eggs served alongside mangú.
Mangú
Mangú is a plantain dish made by peeling and boiling the plantains, then mashing them with a fork or potato masher, and made very smooth and creamy with the addition of liquid (usually cold water or some of the cooking water) and fat (typically oil or butter, although originally lard).
Mangú is served garnished with Dominican-style sauteed red onions.
Dominican Salami frito
Outside the Dominican Republic, fried salami may sound a bit crazy, so in case you didn't know: it bears little resemblance to Italian salame (plural is salami), and just as little to Spanish salchichón, as it's also named in our country.
Queso frito
Queso frito (fried cheese) is made with the aptly named queso de freír (cheese for frying). It is an unripened, semi-hard cheese made from cow milk. It has a very high melting point, so it's quite easy to fry without melting, at least good quality queso de freír.
If you cannot get queso de freír, try to find plain halloumi (no mint!), it's as close as you'll get to the right texture and flavor.
Huevos fritos
Sunny-side-up eggs – with a crispy edge for some people. Just that simple.
Breakfast of Mangú con Los Cuatro Golpes.
Serving suggestions
Los Tres Golpes is not one, but three dishes (cheese, eggs, and salami), that are served alongside Mangú garnished with Dominican-style sauteed onions. If available, avocado is very welcome, but it isn't part of the original combination (some people call it Los Cuatro Golpes).
You can pick one of our hot breakfast drinks to serve alongside if you are trying to impress your family and guests.
About the recipe
As mentioned above, this is whole meal. This is why you can find the components in three separate recipes in our blog. We've combined it here so you can find it more easily.
Do you have any ideas to serve or improve this? Let us know in the comments.
Video
Recipe
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Los Tres Golpes [Recipe + Video] The Dominican Breakfast
Ingredients
To make the plantains
Red onions with vinegar
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large red onion, sliced thinly
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt, (or more, to taste)
Eggs
- 12 egg (medium)
- 1 cup oil for frying, will also be used for frying the salami and cheese
Cheese
- 1 pound queso de freir, (or plain halloumi)
Salami
- 1 pound Dominican-style salami, cut into thin slices
Instructions
Plantains
Peel and boil the plantains in a large pot. Mash them with a fork or potato masher in a large bowl.See the full instructions and video for mangú.
Onions with vinegar
- Sauté the onions over low heat and add vinegar salt and pepper.See full instructions and video to make the onions.
Queso
- Fry the cheese until it's golden brown and crispy.See full instructions and video to fry the cheese.
Eggs
- Heat oil over medium heat in a non-stick frying pan. Fry the eggs sunny-side-up one by one.
Salami
- Fry the salami in the oil heated at medium-high heat, flipping mid-way until it's browned on both sides. Remove from the oil and let it rest on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.See instructions and video to fry salami.
Tips and Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutrition information.
Why is it called Tres Golpes?
For Dominicans, the iconic Dominican breakfast meal that represents our gastronomy is the colorful, flavorful Mangú con Los Tres Golpes, the iconic breakfast meal with its own name – same as La Bandera Dominicana (Dominican flag), our traditional lunch meal of rice, beans, and chicken, or beef.
The name "Los Tres Golpes" for things that identify us as Dominican has a long history. It may have originally come from Perico ripiao, the predecessor to Merengue, our national music.
Perico ripiao was formed by tres golpes (three beats), which were the güira [Dominican instrument], tambora [drum] and accordion; while the symbols of the country were God, country and freedom [Dios, patria y libertad]. These were questions that any military officer could ask citizens to confirm Dominican nationality [my translation].
[1]
Soon the term "los tres golpes" was adopted by Dominicans for an even more ominous purpose during the Trujillo dictatorship. [2]
The youth felt the state of repression the most, because at night mixed patrols would go out, made up of members of the armed forces, who demanded that passers-by present their identity documents. All Dominicans had to carry these documents, and the people, in a sarcastic way, baptized them with the name of "los tres golpes"; that is, the Personal Identity card, the Dominican Party card, and the Mandatory Military Service card [my translation].
[3]
With the name already in the public consciousness when in the post-dictatorship salami became a staple nationwide (see the history of Dominican salami), we were ready for a new "Los tres golpes", one we are glad represents us now.
A quick but important note is that I --and many other writers-- have always translated it as "the three strikes", but if its origin lies in music, perhaps an appropriate translation for los tres golpes should be "the three beats". What do you think?
References
- Vorágines Dominicanas. Elias Torres Sosa. Page Publishing, Inc. USA.
- Blood, Cement, and Prejudice and the Making of the Dominican-Haitian Border, 1937-1961 Edward Ramon Paulino Michigan State University. Department of History, 2001 Pg 180
- Historia de las elecciones en la República Dominicana, desde 1913 a 1998. Sandino Grullón. Kan sasana Printer. 1999. Pg 61.
FAQs
Dominicans eat a large variety of foods for breakfast, the most famous breakfast meal is Mangú con Los Tres Golpes. Some other traditional Dominican breakfast dishes are hot drinks like Chocolate de agua, Pan de agua (Dominican bread rolls) and boiled tubers.
Cuatro Golpes is when you add some avocado slices to Mangú with Los Tres Golpes.
There isn't a proper name for Tres Golpes in English, but given the origins of the name – as explained above – we suggest "The Three Beats" would be the best translation into English.
Los Tres Golpes is a traditional Dominican breakfast dish typically served with Mangú (Dominican plantain mash with sauté onion slices).
Published Jul 14, 2021, revised
