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Tapado olanchano
Tapado olanchano: Olancho's salted beef, pork rib and root vegetable stew
Cattle country in Olancho, eastern Honduras, gives its name to this big Sunday pot of salted beef, pork ribs, plantain, cassava, taro and vegetables, cooked slowly in one broth and eaten with corn tortillas and a hot sauce on the side. It is a filling, gently smoky stew where every root takes on the salty, meaty flavour of the beef. The pork is pork spare ribs; cook them until they pull away from the bone. The mistake to avoid is skipping the soak: salted beef straight from the packet makes the whole pot too salty to eat. Chef's tip: add the roots in order of hardness, cassava first and ripe plantain last, so everything is tender at the same moment.
- Total time
- 180 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the meat
- 1 ⅛ lb salted dried beef (cecina or tasajo)soaked overnight in the fridge, water changed twice
- 1 ⅓ lb pork spare ribscut into single ribs
- 12 ½ cups water
For the stew
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onionchopped
- 1 green pepperchopped
- 4 cloves garliccrushed
- 2 tomatoeschopped
- 1 tsp ground annatto (achiote)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 ⅛ lb cassava (yuca)sweet cassava, peeled, cored, cut into chunks
- 10 ½ oz taro (malanga)peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 green plantainspeeled, cut into 4 cm pieces
- 2 carrotscut into chunks
- 1 chayotepeeled and cut into wedges
- 1 ripe plantainyellow with black spots, cut into 4 cm pieces
- ¼ white cabbagecut into wedges
- ⅔ oz culantro or fresh corianderchopped
- ½ tsp saltonly if needed
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Drain 1 ⅛ lb salted dried beef (cecina or tasajo), rinse it and cut into 5 cm pieces. Taste a tiny corner: if it is still very salty, simmer it in fresh water for 10 minutes and drain.
Step 2: Put the beef and 1 ⅓ lb pork spare ribs in a large pot with 12 ½ cups water. Bring to the boil, skim off the foam, then simmer, half covered, for 1 hour until the beef is starting to soften.
60 minStep 3: In a frying pan, warm 2 tbsp vegetable oil over a medium heat and cook 1 onion, 1 green pepper and 4 cloves garlic for 6 minutes. Add 2 tomatoes, 1 tsp ground annatto (achiote) and 1 tsp ground cumin and cook for 5 minutes more until jammy, then tip this sofrito into the pot.
11 minStep 4: Add 1 ⅛ lb cassava (yuca) and 10 ½ oz taro (malanga) and simmer for 20 minutes.
20 minStep 5: Add 2 green plantains, 2 carrots and 1 chayote and simmer for 15 minutes until the cassava is tender when pierced.
15 minStep 6: Add 1 ripe plantain and ¼ white cabbage and simmer for a final 10–15 minutes, until the cabbage is soft and the pork comes away from the bone easily (it will be well past 160°F).
15 minStep 7: Stir in ⅔ oz culantro or fresh coriander, then taste the broth and add ½ tsp salt only if it needs it. Serve each person meat, vegetables and a ladle of broth, with corn tortillas.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 690 kcal
- Protein
- 48 g
- Carbs
- 70 g
- Fat
- 24 g
- Fibre
- 8 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tapado olanchano take?
- About 180 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 150 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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