Hispanic Heritage · Nicaragua

La Costa Caribe

Bluefields · Corn Island · Little Corn Island · Pearl Lagoon · Kukra Hill · El Rama

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Rondón de pescado

Descubre

On Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, rondón gathers fish, coconut milk, roots, and plantain into a fragrant pot. Thyme and chile add their own character to the broth, introducing a coastal food tradition with Afro-Caribbean connections.

La Gente

A gentle simmer lets the roots cook while the coconut milk stays smooth. Add the fish later and handle it carefully. Taste the broth before serving; the seasoning should support the coconut, vegetables, and seafood together.

Sabor

The Caribbean coast cooks in coconut, thyme, and pepper. Fresh coconut milk is the broth and the fat both. Ginger and thyme give it the note the rest of Nicaragua does not have. Chile de cabro brings the heat. Nothing is sour, nothing is fried, and the sweetness is the ripe plantain and the coconut itself.

Spice DNA · Sweet medium · Herb medium · Heat medium · Smoke low · Acid none

Seasonings to explore

• Minced Garlic in Olive Oil. In the sofrito. Adds a savory garlic base.
• Thyme leaves. The coast's herb. Essential.
• Ginger, ground. A pinch in the pot, or fresh grated if you have it.
• Black Pepper, ground. In the pot.
• Crushed Red Pepper. For the chile de cabro when there is no fresh one.
• Oregano, whole. For the wild oregano of the coast, which ours only approximates.
• Onion Powder. With the fresh onion.

From your market: a whole kingfish or red snapper, or a firm white fish, two fresh coconuts or three cans of full-fat coconut milk, yuca, quequisque or malanga, dasheen if a Caribbean market has it, green bananas, green and ripe plantains, breadfruit if you can find it, a sweet pepper, an onion, and a hot chile. Badia does not sell the breadfruit. A Jamaican or Caribbean market does, fresh or frozen, and it is worth the trip.

Cocina

Rondón de pescado

The coconut pot of the Nicaraguan Caribbean. Roots in first by how long they take, fish in last, and let it run down.

Serves 8

• 3 cans (13.5 oz each) full-fat coconut milk, or the milk of 2 fresh coconuts
• 2 tbsp coconut oil or vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 sweet pepper (chiltoma or bell), chopped
• 2 tbsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil, or 5 garlic cloves minced
• ½ tsp Badia Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Badia Thyme leaves
• ½ tsp Badia Oregano, whole
• ½ tsp Badia Ginger, ground, or 1 tbsp fresh grated
• ½ tsp Badia Black Pepper, ground
• 1 hot chile, whole, or ½ tsp Badia Crushed Red Pepper
• 1 lb quequisque or malanga, peeled and cut in chunks
• 1 lb yuca, peeled and cut in chunks
• 2 green bananas, peeled and halved
• 1 green plantain, in chunks
• 1 small breadfruit, peeled, cored, and cut in wedges, optional
• 1 ripe plantain, in chunks
• 2 lb whole kingfish or snapper, cut in thick steaks
• Salt
• Fresh cilantro or culantro, to finish

1. The sofrito. Warm the oil in the largest pot you have. Cook the onion and sweet pepper with the garlic and onion powder until soft. Add the thyme, oregano, ginger, black pepper, and the whole chile.
2. The coconut. Pour in the coconut milk and 2 cups of water. Bring to a gentle boil. Salt lightly.
3. The slow roots. Add the quequisque or malanga. Simmer 15 minutes.
4. The rest of the roots. Add the yuca, green bananas, green plantain, and breadfruit. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until nearly tender and the coconut has begun to thicken.
5. Ripe plantain and fish. Add the ripe plantain. Salt the fish and lay it on top. Cover and simmer gently 10 to 12 minutes, until the fish flakes. Do not stir once the fish is in; shake the pot.
6. Run it down. Uncover and let it simmer 5 minutes more so the coconut reduces and the starch lets go. The broth should be thick and pale gold. Taste for salt. Fish out the whole chile before someone bites it.
7. Serve in deep bowls with coconut rice and beans, coconut bread, and a ginger beer. If it is May in Bluefields, there is dancing. If it is not, there is still a second bowl.

Pueblos de la Costa Caribe

Bluefields · Corn Island · Little Corn Island · Pearl Lagoon · Kukra Hill · El Rama · Nueva Guinea · Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas) · Waspam · Prinzapolka · Siuna · Rosita · Bonanza · El Bluff · San Juan de Nicaragua

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