Ecuador recipes
Recipes from Ecuador: home cooking with cultural background, ingredient substitutes and step-by-step instructions.
Bolón de Verde: Ecuador's Green Plantain Breakfast Dumplings
A recipe for bolón de verde, the coastal Ecuadorian breakfast. Boil green plantains, mash them with lard, salt, and cheese, shape into balls, and pan-fry until golden. Includes its Montubio roots, the coffee habit, and tips for round balls that do not crack.
Encebollado: Ecuadorian Tuna and Yuca Soup with Pickled Red Onions
A full guide to encebollado, Ecuador's national soup: tuna and yuca simmered in a cumin-scented broth and heaped with pickled red onions, loved as a hangover cure. Explained step by step for a home kitchen with easy-to-find ingredients.
Guagua de Pan: Ecuador's Sweet Bread Dolls with Guava Filling
How to make Ecuadorian guagua de pan at home: sweet enriched dough, guava filling, and colored icing. Covers Day of the Dead tables, serving with colada morada, shaping, proofing, browning, fixing cracks and leaks, and storage.
Locro de Papas Recipe: Ecuadorian Potato and Cheese Soup
Locro de papas, the potato and cheese soup of the Ecuadorian Sierra, made by mashing only part of the potatoes and finishing with cheese. Achiote oil, avocado and ají on the side, regional variations, storage and fixes.
Llapingachos: Ecuadorian Cheese-Stuffed Potato Patties
Llapingachos, the specialty of Ambato in central Ecuador, made with potatoes and cheese. The aroma of annatto oil, salsa de maní, curtido, regional differences, substitutes, how to keep the patties from falling apart in the pan, and storage.
Encocado de Camarón: Ecuadorian Shrimp in Coconut Sauce
A recipe for Ecuador's coastal encocado de camarón, made with shrimp and unsweetened coconut milk: the order for bringing out the annatto color, how to cook the refrito, a simmering time that keeps the shrimp tender, what to serve with it, substitutes, storage and how to fix mistakes.
Fanesca: Ecuador's Holy Week Soup of Salt Cod, Beans, and Grains
A recipe for fanesca, the soup Ecuador eats for Easter, scaled to serve 4 with salt cod, eight beans and grains, squash, and milk. Covers how ingredients vary by home and region, its origins, how to desalt the cod, judging thickness, substitutes for hard-to-find ingredients, and the festive garnishes, plus the heat that keeps the beans whole.