This post features student writing.
Hola, from Noor!
During this trip, we have gotten the chance to eat many different Dominican dishes. All of them taste amazing. As my independent project, I chose to help the cooks with dinner by making a typical Dominican recipe called Asopa’o which essentially is a rice, meat, and vegetable stew. As I helped the cooks, I wrote down the recipe to share with everyone.
For this recipe, there are no specific amounts and times to cook things. It is up to you how much you want to make and how much you want to cook the stew.
Ingredients:
– Beef (cut, not ground)
– Chicken
– Pork
– Vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onion, celery, bell peppers)
– Garlic
– Water
– Cilantro
– Rice
Seasonings:
– Salt
– Oregano
– Garlic or onion powder optional
Instructions:
1. Cook the beef and the chicken.
2. Mash the bell peppers with a mortar and pestle and mix in with the beef to cook.
3. Pour some water in with the chicken to prevent burning.
4. Cut the fat off of the pork and cut it in pieces (finger size).
5. Cook the pork.
6. Boil water in a pot.
7. Mix the meat together (beef, chicken, and pork) and put in pot of water.
8. Put the vegetables into the boiling water to cook.
9. Sautee garlic and add to pot.
10. Add cilantro and rice to cook in pot.
12. Stir the rice in the pot once in a while so it doesn’t stick.
12. Cook until the vegetables and rice are fully cooked.
13. Pour in some chicken stock for flavoring.
14. Serve and enjoy!
Tip:
– Don’t fully cook the meat in the pan because it is going to continue to cook when in the pot of water.
Overall this recipe was not very hard to make. It took us about 30 minutes to complete the dish from the start of cooking. Along with this dish, you could add some of the Dominican favorites on the side such as tostones (smashed, fried green plantain) and mashed potatoes. When this recipe hit the dinner table, people loved it. Everyone in our group really enjoyed the dish and felt like it was a nice comfort food.
Gracias and enjoy the recipe!
– Noor
