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Sancoche

Sancoche is a traditional Trinidadian recipe for the classic and very hearty stew of beef with yellow split peas and mixed starchy vegetables flavoured with a habanero chilli. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Trinidadian version of: Sancoche.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

100 minutes

Total Time:

120 minutes

Serves:

6–8

Rating:

Tags : Chilli RecipesBeef RecipesVegetable RecipesBean RecipesTrinidad Recipes

This is an amazing Trinidadian starch-based stew that's been derived from South American stews called sancochos. These are sometimes also known as 'plantation stews' and were the traditional mid-day meals on Trinidad's plantations. Today it's a staple of Saturday lunchtime.

Typically the starch sources included yams, sweet potatoes, tannia, eddoes, taro, cassava, bananas, plantains, potatoes and pumpkins; basically whatever was commonly to hand. Today, many of these carbohydrate sources can be purchased in supermarkets and I have included the commonest here. The ones you may not be able to find are eddoes. However, as a starch or carbohydrate source eddoes are hypoallergenic and bioavailable. Which means that they provide readily-digestible carbohydrates that will not challenge the most sensitive plates. In fact, eddoes are an excellent component of any calorie-limited diet as they make you full very quickly.

Ingredients:

225g corned (salt) beef, cut into 2cm cubes
450g beef, cut into 2cm cubes
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
2l beef stock
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
150g yellow split peas (or black-eyed peas)
250ml coconut cream
350g sweet potatoes, peeled and cit into 3cm cubes
350g yam or cassava, peeled and cut into 3cm cubes
6 eddoes, peeled and cut into 3cm cubes
2 green plantains cut into 3cm lengths
750g potatoes, peeled and cut into 3cm cubes
1 Habanero chilli (Congo pepper), whole
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

Heat the oil in a large flame-proof casserole and use to fry the beef (both kinds) until lightly browned. Add the onions and fry for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle the thyme over the top, season then add the split peas and stock. Mix well, bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 1 hour, or until the peas are tender.

Now stir-in all the remaining ingredients (leave the chilli whole) then bring the mixture back to a simmer. Cover the pan and cook for a further 30 minutes, or until all the ingredients are tender (add more water if the mixture starts looking too dry). Remove the habanero chilli, adjust the seasonings and serve.