Nicaraguan Taste + Gallo Pinto

In Nicaraguan traditional food Gallo Pinto is without doubt one of our signature dishes. It's one of the simplest recipes but you can tell when it's bad or it's good, a good Gallo Pinto should be colorful and moist, but most importantly tasting delicious.

Gallo Pinto is the heart of the Nicaraguan breakfast, made from leftovers, this dish goes in handy with dishes like Carne Asada, in Nicaragua we always add something extra to it, always seeking to make more flavors out of a simple and humble dish like Gallo Pinto, my grandmother adds meat leftovers and sauce from the day before when we make dishes like Carne Desmenuzada to give it more body and flavor. Through the country the Gallo Pinto recipe varies, depending whether you are in north part of Nicaragua or the south you'll probably spot many different things, but here I'll teach you the original recipe

serves 4


For this you will need

1 Onion

1 lb Red beans
1 lb Rice
Salt
3 Cloves of garlic
1 Green bell pepper

To cook

First of all, this is something you will like to do the day before you eat it, as it ensures that all the flavors get locked in the beans and the rice. The recipe is originally made from leftovers so if you want to get the real taste you'll have to wait to the next day, also because making it in one day can be very tricky!

 First put 2 liters of water in a medium pot,(keep another pan with 1 lt of water at a low heat because the beans might get dry), meanwhile the water boils get your beans in a bowl and wash them with water until the water is not dirty anymore, when the water starts to boil add the beans.

Let them boil at medium heat, cooking time depends on how hard are the beans, if they are fresh they will take from 30 to 60 mins to cook, so the fresher the better. Ensure to check constantly the beans, when they are starting to get bland and in the salt to taste, garlic and onion.

Peel the garlic cloves and with a knife make a cross in each one, that will release all the juices, and get more flavor,  peel and add half of the onion, and let it cook for 30 mins so all the ingredients do their job.
Once it's done let the beans cool, do not reheat them afterwards if you're not going to use the whole batch because beans are delicate and reheating the whole batch will spoil them, so after they are cooled refrigerate them until you use them.

For the rice recipe Click Here

Now for the real treat :

Now that you've have everything done it's time for the Gallo Pinto

In a frying pan add oil and the quarter of an onion you have left, the onion gives more flavor to the oil, we do the same with scrambled eggs to take away the odor of the egg and give some flavor.

When the onion is cooked more or less take it out, and add your beans with some of the stock keep stirring so they don't stick  and fry them for 5 mins and then with a spatula gently press the beans against the pan this will release more stock, but do not press them to much as they have to moist. After doing that add the rice mix well until the rice has absorb all the stock keep stirring for a few mins and it's done !!

So as I said we serve this with tortillas so for the tortilla recipe click here

Sorry if it's too messy, but my camera was dead and I just took the last photo when it was done, I'll try to make more so I can put out some photos to make your life easier :) I hope you enjoy the recipe.

Disclaimer!

I'm sorry I haven't uploaded more recipes, but I had some pretty busy weeks and I just did not have the time to upload anything :( but I will catch up as soon as possible. Thank you

Priscilla Miranda

Nicaraguan Taste + Pollo Tapado

This is one of my favourite recipes, is very easy to make and is very flavourful. Is perfect with rice and it's a very nice way of eating chicken. Meaning Coated Chicken in English, Pollo Tapado is a must try and it shows the variety of flavors that the Nicaraguan cuisine has to offer

A typical home meal in Nicaragua, this will leave a wonderful experience, so if you follow the recipe very well you'll be in for a great treat!.

serves 4


For this you will need 

700 g of chicken legs ( you can use chicken breast too, if its more convenient for you)
250 g Tomato sauce
3 tbs Mustard
4 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 Green bell pepper
3 Tomatoes
Half an onion
Salt
Pepper
35 g Of butter
2 tbs Of coca cola
6 Potatoes

To cook

First season the chicken legs, (if you are using chicken breasts, slice in thick pieces)

Slice the bell pepper vertically, dice the tomatoes and slice the onion as shown the on the pic to the left.

Then add the chopped vegetables to the chicken and add also the tomato sauce, the mustard and the worcestershire sauce, mix all the ingredients and leave to rest for 10 mins.
Once you added all ingredients it should have a reddish color, like this if it doesn't have that color add more tomato sauce


Meanwhile peel and slice the potatoes in thick slices and boil at a medium high heat for 5 to 6 mins.

In a wide and deep pan (again a wok does the trick) pour in oil and once is hot and nice add in the chicken without any vegetables just the chicken, cook at a medium heat.

The reason of cooking the chicken without the sauce nor the veggies is to get a nice color and sear on the chicken, so it keeps a lot of the flavor locked in and it helps it to cook evenly.

Keep cooking the chicken for 5 to 10 mins at the same heat, after add the sauce and the veggies. Put a lead on and cook for (depending on what chicken part you're using) 8 mins if you're using breast or 15 mins if you're using legs.

Once done with that, it's time for the potatoes, spread the potatoes over the chicken so it covers it, therefore the name of the dish Pollo Tapado (Coated Chicken) put the lid back on and cook for 5 mins. Then add the butter and the coca cola. Cook for further 3 mins.

The coca cola gives it a sweet touch to it and it makes the dish balanced, my grandma cooks it that way although is used more commonly red wine vinegar.

Turn off the heat and leave to cool, serve with rice and enjoy !

For the rice here's the link to how to make rice

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do, if you have any suggestions don't forget to comment and if you like this dish then why not share it it helps me a lot! Thanks!

About Nicaraguan Taste

This blog is my way of sharing, the Nicaraguan food, in this blog you will find new recipes every week. Nicaragua is located in Central America, and we have a corn-based gastronomy so if you like to try new things and want to impress a couple of guest then, this is your blog. I hope this will be helpful also for Nicaraguans like me. You are welcome to suggest any recommendation, feel free to share also the recipes, if you want to donate to the blog you will be very welcome, if you want something in special or custom you can email me at priscillamiranda97@gmail.com Happy Cooking !!