- Wash rice preferably 3 times until water comes out clean.
- If using 2 cups of rice, fill with 2 cups of water and add a tablespoon of salt and a little bit of Achiote and mix together.
- Start cooking rice until water dries out, once dry lower temp and cook for about 20 mins, stirring every 10 mins to make sure its cooked perfectly.
- Cut vegetables in big cubes, adding a little bit of canola oil and Achiote to the pan, fry vegetables until soft. Starting with the onion, adding the pepper, the garlic and lastly the tomato.
- Once vegetables are cooked, place vegetables in a blender, add 3 cilantro stems and blend until pureed. Place pureed vegetables in a big pot and set aside.
- *This step depends on the type of cut of chicken you’re using; I prefer chicken breast, and for plating matters I cut my chicken breast in strips*If you’re using drumsticks or thighs, place them on the pot with the pureed vegetables. If you’re using chicken breast, chop them to your desired size, could be big cubes or strips or even thin slices. Once chopped, place in the pot.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and add ½ can of beer to the mixture and add a cup or 2 of water until it covers the chicken. Give it a nice stir and turn on heat to high.
- The chicken may take up to 20 minutes to fully cook, if using smaller pieces of chicken may take less; keep an eye on the pot and stir constantly making sure you’re perfecting the amount of salt and pepper; can also add more beer if needed. The consistency of the sauce preferably thick that way you have a bit more
- If Sweet plantains are available, peel plantain and cut long strips of it; using a little bit of canola oil in a pan already heated, place sweet plantain and fry until golden. *Be careful, if you look away for more than a few minutes, they might burn*
- Split avocado in half, cut strips with one half and save the rest.
- For plating, the traditional Ecuadorian way is to add as much rice as your heart desires, adding chicken with lots of the pureed vegetable sauce, plantain with queso fresco on top, avocado and some cilantro on the rice.
And that’s how you make Seco de pollo Ecuatoriano.
For me, this dish is my comfort food. I can proudly say every Ecuadorian I know is absolutely in love with this dish. It’s quick to make and it’s very delicious.
In Ecuador, this dish is usually sold as “Almuerzo” for around $2.50 depending on the restaurant.
You can also enjoy this dish for dinner. My friends back home like to pair this dish with a can of beer, I prefer some Coca-Cola.
Estefania’s Tips:
if you don’t want to use beer, you can replace it for Passionfruit pulp. Same procedure, just add the pulp with the pureed vegetables and season to taste.
We also use Naranjilla, but I haven’t been able to find it here in Texas.
If you want to kick it up a notch, you can add passionfruit with a little bit of the beer too.
I mostly use beer because that’s how my mom makes it and It reminds me of her.
For the protein:
You can also use big cubes of steak or pork, it’s a very versatile dish. For a first time, I’d recommend the chicken and then trying it out with other proteins.
