Sancocho

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg bone-in chicken pieces, legs and thighs preferred; skin on
• 500 g bone-in beef, short rib or shank, cut into large pieces
• 500 g bone-in pork, rib or shoulder, cut into large pieces
• 500 g yuca (cassava), peeled and cut into 6 cm chunks
• 400 g potato, peeled and halved
• 2 green plantains, peeled and cut into 4 cm rounds
• 2 ears of corn, husked and cut into 4 cm rounds
• 1 whole red onion, unpeeled
• 1 tomato, halved
• 1 handful fresh corn kernels, stripped from cob, for toasting
• 2.5 litres cold water
• to taste salt, added and adjusted throughout cooking
• For the hogao
• 4 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• To serve
• as needed cooked white rice
• 2 ripe avocados, halved and sliced at the table

Method

1. 1
   Place all three meats in a large pot. Add the cold water, the whole unpeeled red onion, and the halved tomato. Bring to a boil over high heat. Skim all grey foam from the surface as it rises. Season with salt. After 30 minutes of vigorous simmering, remove and discard the red onion and tomato. The broth should already carry a warm golden colour and perceptible body.
2. 2
   Reduce the heat to a steady, uncovered simmer. Continue cooking the meats for a further 45 minutes to 1 hour. This is where the dish lives or dies: only the sustained, uncovered extraction of collagen from the bones over a minimum of two hours total produces the gelatinous body that separates sancocho from a thin broth. Taste and adjust salt. The broth must be visibly reduced, deeper in colour, and coat the back of a spoon with a faint richness.
3. 3
   Add the yuca chunks to the pot. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the handful of fresh corn kernels in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring, until golden at the edges. Set aside.
4. 4
   Add the potato pieces and the corn rounds. Simmer for a further 15 minutes. The potato should offer slight resistance at the centre when pierced with a knife tip.
5. 5
   Add the plantain rounds and the toasted corn kernels. Simmer for 10 minutes more. Taste and adjust salt. The yuca must be fully tender but hold its shape — press a piece between thumb and finger; it should yield cleanly without dissolving into the broth. Collapsing yuca indicates overcooking and renders the broth undesirably starchy.
6. 6
   While the stew finishes, prepare the hogao. Warm the oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the spring onions and cook until softened. Add the chopped tomatoes, season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is jammy, reduced, and a deep terracotta red. The hogao should smell sweet and caramelised, not raw.
7. 7
   Ladle the sancocho into deep bowls, ensuring each portion receives pieces of each meat and each tuber. Serve immediately with white rice, sliced avocado, and the hogao in small dishes on the side.