Sancocho (Rice, Vegetable and Meat Stew)

Ingredients

• •4 pounds chicken
• •2 pounds pork chops
• •1 pound salt pork, Spanish sausage
• •1 1/2 pounds goat meat
• •1 pound sausage
• •4 large plantain bananas
• •2 pounds yucca (cassava, tapioca, manioc)
• •2 pounds malanga
• •2 pounds Spanish pumpkin
• •2 pounds sweet potatoes
• •5 ears of corn
• •2 pounds white yam
• •6 liters water
• •1 1/2 tablespoons oregano
• •5 teaspoons salt
• •2 tablespoons soft “naranja agria” (these are oranges that are very, very sour)
• •2 green bell peppers (cut in four pieces)
• •1 medium size onion
• •1 teaspoon garlic (smashed)
• •Leaves parsley
• •Leaves cilantro
• •1 chicken bouillon cube
• •2 tablespoons white vinegar
• •Worcestershire sauce (English)

Directions

1. 1The day before (to save some time) you can cook the meats and store them in the refrigerator. The way to cook them is the following:
2. 2Cut the chicken into different pieces, wash the chicken with “naranja agria” taking out the skin and excess grease. Add onions, garlic, bell pepper, English sauce (or soy sauce), tomatoes and salt. After half an hour, cook the chicken without adding tomato sauce. Add more water than usual so that you can use the resulting sauce. Do not let get the chicken to become too tender. When done, save it in the refrigerator.
3. 3Cook the pork chops and goat in the same way as the chicken but cook them separately. Add more water than usual so that you can use the resulting sauce. When done, save it in the refrigerator.
4. 4Cut the salt pork in small pieces (half an inch) and pass it through hot vegetable oil (to give a nice color). Add some water and cook. Do not let get the salt pork become too tender.
5. 5Cut the sausage in small pieces (half an inch each) and fry the pieces. Save the vegetable oil.
6. 6Take the peel of the yucca, plantain bananas, malanga, Spanish pumpkin, sweet potatoes and white yam and cut them into small pieces. Put them in salt water so that they do not become black.
7. 7In a large pot (or two medium size pots) put the salt and the water. Add the onions, bell pepper, leaves of parsley and cilantro, Spanish pumpkin, corn, plantain bananas and malanga. When they are getting tender add all the other vegetables, the meat and the “sauces”. Add two tablespoons of the oil in which the sausage was fried, “naranja agria”, vinegar, garlic and check the salt. Do not let the sancocho to get too thick.
8. 8Put the Spanish pumpkin in two portions: the first one to add thickness to the sancocho, and the second to eat with the sancocho. If some vegetables are too tender, take them out. When the sancocho is done, put them in again. When done, you can serve the sancocho with rice and add picante sauce (Tabasco, for instance).