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Recipes 2 – Sweet Beans, La Bandera & Fritters

Recipes Page 2 – Beans, Rice and Corn Fritters

Dominicans love their rice and beans. It is a joke that if a Dominican goes without rice for even a day they will perish. It is such a staple in everyday eating. The typical dish “La Bandera” is consumed daily in some form by most Dominicans. Beans are also a staple food in Dominican Republic. Beans cooked runny, with rice or sweet as a desert, all are just so good. Let’s do some cooking!

Habichuelas con Dulce/Sweet Beans | La Bandera Dominicana/The Dominican Flag(meat Guisado, Arroz Blanco, Habichuelas, Ensalada) | Chofan/Dominican Style Chinese Fried Rice | Arepitas de Maiz/Fried Corn Meal Cakes

Habichuelas con Dulce

Habichuelas con Dulce
Habichuelas con Dulce

Habichuelas con Dulce / Sweet Beans are a typical Dominican dish. Each cooker of this sweet dish has their own way to make it special by adding a touch of something different to the traditional recipe. It is a sort of pudding but not as thick. It is made with Kidney Beans, Yam, Condensed Milk, Raisins and Cinnamon. It sounds terrible but trust me, it is wonderful. This dessert has become an Easter/Semana Santa tradition, served during Lent, in the Dominican household.
(Bon Helados also serves up an ice cream version that is wonderful during the Easter season)

Cooking Habichuelas con Dulce
Cooking Habichuelas con Dulce

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked kidney beans/habichuelas rojas
2 cups water reserved from the beans
1/4 cup of raisins/ciruelas pasas
3 cups of evaporated milk/leche evaporada
1 cup of coconut milk/leche de coco
1 cup sweetened condensed milk/Leche Condensada
1/2 lb of sweet potatoes/batatas cooked and mashed
1/2 cup of sugar/azucar
2 cinnamon sticks/palitos de canela
2 tablespoons butter/mantequilla
8 to 10 cloves/Clavos dulces
1/2 teaspoon salt/sal
optional
Cassava bread toasted/casabe tostado or milk cookies/galleticas de leche

Habichuelas con Dulce with milk cookies ready for eating!
Habichuelas con Dulce with milk cookies ready for eating!

Instructions:
Puree the beans with a little cooking liquid and then strain.
Add beans, coconut milk, evaporated milk and bring to a boil
Lower heat to medium add the Condensed milk, sugar, cinnamon stick, raisins and sweet potatoes
Keep stirring so it does not stick.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Stir until the desired consistency has been reached.
Serve warm or cold with the cassava bread or float the cookies on top.

I have been known to enjoy a few bowls before feeling satisfied. This is a treat you will ever forget. It sounds terrible but it is ever so tasty. ¡Que Sabroso!

Mama Pura’s Recipes (Dominican traditional cooking Book 1) – Amazon book available in Paperback and Kindle

La Bandera Dominicana / The Dominican Flag

La Bandera Dominicana
La Bandera Dominicana

La Bandera Dominicana/The Dominican Flag is typically prepared for lunch and is the most important meal in Dominican Republic. It is a combination of beans, rice, meat/seafood and salad type dish. It is very filling and satisfying and is quite healthy also because it is made with fresh ingredients.

The meat is cooked Guisado/Stewed this is a general recipe for making the stewed meats. You can use this recipe to make Pollo Guisado/ Stewed Chicken, Rés Guisada/Stewed Beef, or other stewed meats.

Carne Guisado Recipe: Cut bell peppers, chop some celery, add some onion cut coarse, preferably red onion, some tomatoes cut in large pieces, some mashed garlic, tomato paste to give it some liquid and thicken up the sauce, some lemon or vinegar, a few green olives if you desire, a little dash of sugar, and some oregano, salt and a little oil. Sauté the meat (usually cut in medium to small bite sized pieces) in the oil then add the veggies and spices. Add a little water and cover and let simmer until the meat is cooked and veggies are soft. Add water as needed. Mix the tomato paste in a little water and add to the mix until the desired consistency has been reached.

Arroz Blanco Recipe

White Rice / Arroz Blanco Dominican Style
White Rice / Arroz Blanco Dominican Style

The Arroz Blanco/White Rice is cooked soft. Add a little oil to the rice so you can get some Concón/ Burnt Rice on the bottom of the pan. This is a delicacy and is the sign that you have mastered the Dominican rice cooking.

This is the way Dominicans make their white rice.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups raw rice rinsed and drained
3 TBSP cooking oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups water

Instructions:
A heavy skillet is best. Add oil salt water and rice to the pan. Mix. Cook over high heat until boiling. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the water absorbed. Remove the lid and allow the rice to rest a few minutes. For concon let the rice cook on low heat on the stove for a little time more until the crust appears on the bottom of the pan. It takes a little skill and some luck to easily remove the con-con from the bottom of the pan. Serve the rice hot and the con-con on the side.

Habichuelas Guisadas Recipe
The Habichuelas Guisadas/Stewed Beans can be made with any type of bean, red, white, fava, lentils, whatever you have on hand.

Recipe:
Cook the beans until soft or buy them in a can. Add some chopped celery, some squash if you have it, a little onion, parsley, thyme, oregano, coriander or cilantro, some mashed garlic, a cube of chicken stock, a little oil, some tomato paste, and salt. Cook the veggies and spices in the oil until they are soft. Add the stock and tomato paste. Add the beans. Mash the beans a little to make them juicy. Cook until they have thickened up a little, adding water if needed. Adjust the ingredients to your taste.

Ensalada
Make a small Ensalada/Salad with lettuce and tomato, cut up an avocado and top with límon or vinegar and oil. You can finely chop cabbage with some tomato and peppers with oil and vinegar dressing. Make Dominican style potato salad called Ensalada Hervida/Boiled Salad using boiled carrots, potato, eggs, with an oil and vinegar dressing.

Now for the best part….this is my favorite step (drum roll please). Serve all this on a large plate. Put the beans on top of the rice. Let some of the meat juice get on the rice also. Place a little of the Concón on the plate. Put the salad on the side. Get a big glass of ice water and a big spoon and enjoy. When finished have a sweet or a cup of coffee. Now you have eaten the typical Dominican lunch just like a true Dominican.

Chofan

Chinese Fried Rice Dominican Style. The Chofan rice dish is very versatile. The basic recipe is rice with vegetables, egg, and some meat or seafood of your choice added to the mix. It is a great rice dish to use with your leftovers.

The general recipe is here with some different substitutions added. Be creative and make your own signature

Dominican style Chofan
Ingredients:(remember all can be adjusted to your taste)
2 eggs scrambled (eggs are usually part of the dish but you can omit them if you desire)
2 tablespoons of oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup of ham, pork, seafood, goat, chicken, tofu…etc. cooked and cubed. (Combine meats and seafood for a flavor all your own).
3 tablespoons soy sauce/ salsa china (or tamari sauce for a lower salt version)
3 tablespoons onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup sweet corn, green peas (petit pois), red beans. Add all or 1 of these ingredients. Be creative and try adding some other veggie.
2 to 3 cups of cooked rice
If your adding eggs to the mix scramble them up first in the oil. (If your veggies and meats are not all pre-cooked remove the egg and set aside to add to the mix along with the rice so it does not get to hard.) Sauté all the pre-cooked meats and veggies together until the onion and celery are soft. Add the soy sauce to the mixture. Mix well. Then add the pre-cooked rice and stir all together and fry until hot. Fluff it up with a fork. Add salt to taste. Serve alone as a main dish or as a side.

Arepitas

Arepitas de Maiz/ Fried Corn Meal Cakes (I call them Corn Bread Droppings). These tasty treats are a fast and easy snack or meal accompaniment Hispanola style.

1 cup corn meal or corn flour
2 teaspoons of milk
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 egg

Mix these ingredients together. Add more liquid if the mix is not moist enough. Heat about 1/4 cup of oil in a skillet.
Drop about a tablespoon full into the oil. Fry until golden on both sides. Drain on some paper. Serve them up when they are fresh and hot. For variety try adding some hot peppers, whole corn or a little cheese into the mix. Yummmm….

Dominican Food

Dominican Republic Food

1.Breakfast – Desayuno | 2.Lunch – La Bandera Dominicana | 3.Sancocho | 3.Dinner – Cena | 4.Dessert – Postre | 5.Fruits – Frutas and Juices – Jugos |

The food of Dominican Republic / Comida de República Dominicana is a blend of many different cultural dishes all combined to make a style of cooking that is unique to this island. With influences from the Taino Indians, Spaniards, African Slaves and many other immigrants, the Dominican dishes or comida criolla has evolved. The Dominicans have created their own food and cooking styles into dishes that have their own distinctive flavors, tastes and appearances.

Dominican food is high in carbohydrates and starch. Most recipes are not complicated and are made from very natural and locally grown foods that are readily available in gardens, trees and from local vendors. Add a little locally raised meat or a fresh catch of fish, and some sazóne (spices) and you have a typical Dominican meal. Remember that typical Dominican foods are usually not spicy. In local type eateries there is a high chance that you will not see any black pepper. If you ask many will give you a bottle of hot sauce instead. They, in general, do not like their foods hot/ pica.

Salami, Fried Cheese and Platano.
Salami, Fried Cheese and Platano.

Breakfast – Desayuno

Breakfast Dominican style has many options from which to choose.

One of the traditional foods served for breakfast is Mangú, which is mashed plantains with some flavoring added and topped with lots of red onions. The orange squash/ auyama is used to make mazamorra that is also served with onions. Spaghetti is also a favorite of the Dominicans. Fried cheese is also a favorite served with fried salami and eggs. People love their oatmeal/ avena that usually a bit runny cooked with milk and is very sweet. Of course, there is always a good variety of fruits from which to choose. I have seen many people eating Sancocho and Mondongo for breakfast as well. To wash it all down have some jugo de avena, hot chocolate made with water or milk, some fresh juice and of course a hot cup of espresso style coffee made fresh to order.

Lunch – La Bandera Dominicana

La Bandera Dominicana/ The Dominican Flag
La Bandera Dominicana/ The Dominican Flag

The typical Dominican lunch, called La Bandera Dominicana/ The Dominican Flag (La Bandera recipe), consists of beans/ habichuelas and rice/ arroz, meat/ carne or fish/ piscado, and a salad/ ensalada of some sort.

First, the plate is filled with the most rice I have ever seen heaped on a plate. The habichuelas/ juicy beans come in black, red, white or green, depending on the type of bean used. These beans are usually served in a small bowl or cup on the side and you pour this on top of the rice, along with some of the sauce from the meat if you so desire. You eat this with a large spoon and a knife used for pushing the food onto the spoon. The meat is usually cut into pieces and is stewed. The portion size of meat is dwarfed when it sits next to the hugh amount of rice on the plate. There are different varieties of salads that can be served the most popular being, Green Salad / Ensalada Verde, Avacado Salad/ Ensalada de Aguacate, Russian Potato Salad/ Ensalada Rusa, and a boiled salad I love with tayota, carrots and potatoes. When the beans are made just right and the rice has the perfect amount of salt, along with a little concón/ crispy fried rice from the bottom of the pan, this meal is wonderful.

I can see why most Dominicans eat this meal everyday of their lives. It is a joke among my Dominican friends, if they do not eat rice everyday they will not live. After living here for many years I have come to believe this as truth.

Sancocho Dominican style
Sancocho Dominican style

Sancocho

Sancocho is the national dish of the Dominican people. It is made with a variety of meats and vegetables such as pork, beef, goat, fish, sweet potatoes. The recipe for sancocho is on our recipe pages. There is also another type of soup – stew type dish called asopao which is meat, veggies and rice in a flavorful broth. Make some for yourself, here is the recipe for Sancocho.

One of the many night time food vendors.

Dinner – Cena

The evening meal is usually something light because the main meal is served midday. You will see Dominicans eating a sandwich or a soup or stew such as Sancocho.

They do eat full dinners if they go out to a restaurant in the evening but at home it is usually light. Maybe they will pick up a snack on the street such as Chicharones, pasteles en hoja a hamburger or some fruit. Along many of the streets throughout the country you can find small trucks selling all types of fried foods and sandwiches. The roasted pork sandwiches are wonderful. Some snacks/ picadera consisting of olives, cheese and salami to go with a cold drink with friends are also popular.

Dominican-style bizcocho for sale in a Colmado

Dessert – Postre

The Dominicans know how to make desserts and sweets just right. They use all the local ingredients to make candies and cakes like no other place in the world.

Try out a mixture of beans, condensed milk and some other sweet and interesting ingredients. The name of this sweet mix is Habichuelas con dulse (habichuelas con dulse recipe *the link is to the old html web site). It is a traditional dessert served during Easter but can also be found the year round if you make your quest in the right places. It is also made into an ice cream that can be bought at Bon’s Helados. I never thought of beans as a dessert and ice cream. This is a must taste for sure. There is also the Dominican cake called Bizcocho that you can get with or without icing. The Flan is sweet and creamy and the candies made from coconut, papaya, almonds and other local fruits are yummy.

Fresh fruits from a vendor.

Fruits – Frutas and Juices – Jugos

The fruits grown here are the best. There are a wide variety of fruits that you have never seen or heard of before. Some do look ugly but don’t snub them because of the way they look. You have never eaten a pineapple/ piña until you have tried one here in República Dominicana.

The Mangos (season May thru September), of which there are many types, sizes and textures, are wonderful and very messy.

Mangos are best eaten with a knife as the little strings of fiber get stuck in the teeth. Do not let the mango juice get on your clothes because it stains.

Papaya/ lechosa is unbelievably tasty and nothing like what you will find in other countries.

An Avacado grown in DR has so much more flavor than any I tasted elsewhere.

Buy a banana or a peeled orange for a few pesos while walking the street for a quick pick me up. Just make sure that when you visit you do not pass up a taste you will always remember.

Zapote fruit, the beautiful seed inside and some juice blended with ice and milk. Yumm.

You can buy a juice on the street fresh squeezed and many restaurants serve their juices fresh as well.

There are a few different types of oranges. The china, which is the sweet orange, is used to make juice (sometimes it is mixed with sugar to make it even sweeter) and to eat whole. Then there is the bitter orange/ naranja sevillana that is used for cooking.

The Guava/ guayaba, a pink colored, pear-shaped fruit with yellow skin, is wonderful when made into juice or a greenish colored jelly (try it made into a paste and eaten with some cheese, I was shocked that this tastes so good).

I highly recommend everyone tries some zapote juice, the fruit is ugly but the juice is sooo yummy. The Guanabana and Passion fruit/ Chinola also makes a scrumptious juice. To learn more about the products grown in Dominican Republic go to our Grown in DR page.

Whatever you choose to eat while you are in Dominican Republic you should try new things. Things that may look strange to you might be a new yummy for your pallet. Some you might not like but I am sure that most of the cuisine in this country you will enjoy. You should keep your mind open to new taste sensations and try new foods. Whenever you visit a new place it is always important to try something different. You just might be pleasantly pleased. Try going to a restaurant and asking for something typical Dominican. If invited to a persons home for dinner make sure you try everything, no matter what it is. Even if your not crazy about what is served let them know how much you enjoyed everything. They are always hospitable and will probably be watching you while dining to make sure you are comfortable and happy. Many times when you are sitting in a restaurant, having a drink or snack in a Colmado or enjoying any type of food or drink Dominicans will pass by and say “Buen Provecho”. This means “Enjoy your meal”. Dominicans are friendly people and they use this phrase often.

Each part of this small island country has their own foods and recipes. Each dish is cooked in different ways depending on which part of the country you are in and which part of the country the person cooking comes from. There are also have different fruits and veggies that grow and thrive in certain parts of the country. Strawberries are grown best in Constanza, the Bani area is known for its Mangos. No matter where you are in our small island country you will find the most amazing tasting fruits, vegetables and foods all with its own Dominican taste and flavor. Be adventurous and enjoy our original Dominican sabor. Check out our Dominican Recipes and cooking terms.

We have our food words list so you will know how to say the different foods and exactly what they are. Impress your friends…