Guacho

Let’s begin your culinary journey around Panama with a bowl of Guacho (pronounced Wah-cho). Guacho is a slightly soupy rice dish packed with regional vegetables, yucca, and meat or seafood, similar to a risotto. This Panamanian delicacy can be seen on the menus of most local restaurants. However, the seafood Guacho with coconut at Maito—one of Latin America's 50 best restaurants—is easily Panama City's most delectable.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound red beans
• 1 pound of rice, rinsed multiple times
• 1.5 pound cubed salt pork
• 1 pound yucca, cut up
• 1 pound ñame, cut up
• 1 chopped sweet pepper
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 chopped stalk celery
• 3 to 4 mashed garlic cloves
• 1 can tomato paste, small
• a pinch of salt and pepper
  

Instructions:

• Wash the beans and place them in a large pot with enough water to cover them.
• Add 1 tablespoon of salt and cook until the vegetables are almost tender.
• Add the salt pork and continue to add water as the water evaporates, until the beans are cooked.
• Then add the rice and stir it thoroughly with the beans and pork.
• Add the yucca about half an hour later.
• Add the ñame after another half hour.
• The guacho is ready to eat when the ñame is tender.
• Make a "refrito" with the leftover veggies and tomato paste while the guacho is cooking.
• Top each bowl of guacho with a large tablespoon of "refrito".