Colombian Chicken Sancocho (Sancocho de Gallina)

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Sancocho de gallina is the Colombian one-pot chicken soup: hen or chicken simmered with green plantain, cassava, corn on the cob and two kinds of potato until the roots begin to fray and thicken the broth. Unlike Dominican sancocho, it uses no beef or pork and no oregano. Serves five.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Total Time1 15

Course: Soups

Cuisine: Colombian

Keyword: chicken sancocho

Servings:

Calories: 1296kcal

Author: Angela Giraldo

Ingredients

1 hen or chicken, cut into serving pieces about 3 lb / 1.4 kg; bone-in, skin on
12 cups water
6 potatoes, peeled and halved a floury potato such as russet; they help thicken the broth
4 papa criolla (small Andean yellow potatoes), quartered sold frozen in Latin groceries; baby Yukon Gold is the nearest substitute
4 pieces corn on the cob cut across into rounds, cob and all
6 pieces of cassava (yuca), peeled frozen yuca works and comes peeled and cored
2 green plantains, cut into large chunks green, not ripe: a ripe plantain turns sweet and falls apart
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
½ onion, finely chopped
½ tomato, finely chopped
1 carrot, grated
1 bouillon cube, optional a good bird makes this unnecessary
Salt, cumin, pepper and achiote colouring, to taste the achiote is for colour, not flavour
Fresh cilantro, finely chopped, to serve the leaf, not the seed

Instructions

Put the water, the chicken, the corn, the plantain, the onion, the tomato, the carrot, the garlic, the bouillon cube if you are using one, and salt into a large pot.
Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then keep it going for 20 to 25 minutes. Skim off the grey foam that rises in the first few minutes: it is what makes a broth cloudy.
Add the cassava, both kinds of potato, the achiote colouring, the cumin and the pepper. Carry on cooking for 30 to 35 minutes, until everything gives easily to a fork and the cassava has started to fray at the edges. That fraying is what thickens the broth. Stir the cilantro in at the very end, off the heat, so it keeps its colour.
Serve hot in a deep bowl, making sure every portion gets some of each thing: a piece of the bird, a piece of each root, a round of corn. Avocado on the side and a bowl of white rice alongside are how it is eaten in Colombia.

Notes

The times given are for chicken. A true stewing hen (gallina, an older laying bird) is what this dish is named after and makes a noticeably richer broth, but it needs considerably longer, often two hours or more, before it turns tender. If you are cooking a hen, give it that time before the roots go in, or they will collapse waiting for the meat. Arracacha is a common addition if you can find it.

Nutrition