Cooking like a local in Dominican Republic

Mufungo & green banana salad, mojehas y pappas, arenas,& on & on.  Maybe I can't spell them, but sure can cook them!

What are some of the most popular local dishes that are easy to prepare?

Rice, always rice,  mangu,  tostones, san cocho, mofongo,  pollo guisado, pastellon, chivo (goat) and on and on.  Very similar to Puerto Rico

What are the most common ingredients used in dishes in Dominican Republic? Where can you purchase them?

Everything cheap and local,  lots of salt and MSG and lots of oil.

Is there a specific technique or a secret ingredient to master the local cuisine?
Yes lots of salt and oil.

Are there resources available to teach you to cook like a local (classes, websites, etc.)?

A few good cookbooks, This is the best one I have found or used when I had to figure out how to cook something: https://www.amazon.com/Claras-Dominican … 9945045008

What are the advantages of learning to prepare local dishes in Dominican Republic?
Its cheap and ingredients are widely available. Meaning at every colmado and supermarket.

DON'T NEED THE LOT OF SALT OR msg OR TOO MUCH OIL TO COOK GREAT LOCAL DISHES. jUST SLOW DOWN THE COOKING temperature( sorry, blind eyes screw up) Cooking longer will tenderize and combine flavors.   Local produce is plentifol & fresh. The chicken & pork are the best I've ever found. Easy to eat healthy here. Have fun & experiment, you won't regret it.

I am answering the questions about what is,  Not what should be honey I am with you,  less salt, no MSG,  cook slower and for goodness sakes get rid of all the oil.

One time I watched someone pour an entire skillet full of used tostones oil down the kitchen drain. My first thought, "and we don't flush toliet paper??" 😂😂

Salt, chicken, salt, rice, salt, beans, salt, plantinos, salt, batata, salt and you have the main ingredients.
If preparing liquid refreshment then:
sugar, coffee, sugar, orange juice, sugar, powered fruit drinks, sugar, mango, sugar, pineapple, sugar etc and you have the main ingredients.
Bob K

Hahahahaha that is true Bob.

I can't drink prepared juice here, way too much sugar. But, everyone will tell you it's natural there for good for you!!

I do believe most have sugar with a bit of coffee!

Boy O boy, Where do you go to eat. Sounds terrible. Not all local restaurants use too much salt or oil.  I don't eat sweet foods, so don't know about the sugar. Seldom purchase prepared foods.  My lady friends who have cooked for me didn't go overboard either. I'm in agreement that in general they use too much oil when cooking rice.  Dominican cooks do have a secret.  It is how to turn the tough local beef into a such a tender delight. Don't tell me it is because they cook it for a long time. I've tried a pressure cooker, simmering a stew for 5 hours & the same results,.... inedible.  I like local foods.

One of the local cooking techniques seems to be to let the meals get cold before eating.

So true as well.   I am amazed at this:  cook at night to take to work the next day. Let it sit overnight on the counter and then eat it at noon!!!!!   

I would probably be dead from food poisoning by now if I did this.

Again, I don't know where you go to eat or who does your cooking. I haven't had that problem either in restaurants or with people in the campo who are really poor, sometimes cooking using a coal pot. That isn't to say they were always fine tasty meals. Some were downright terrible, but never cold,stale or too salty, well once in awhile yes.If you all dislike the food so much, where DO you eat? I'm not defending bad cooks, I just haven't come across that many in my years here. Remember that I'm a retired , well known chef. I'm pretty fussy about how food is prepared.  Please tell me where these horror shows are so that I can avoid the. Thank you in advance.  Presumptous ain't I? ( on top of being a shitty speller)

planner, 
I've eaten that way all my life and even after over 6 decades I'm still around.
I absolutely love rice and beans, and every kind of vegetables and fruits. Not too crazy about eating a lot of meat, but love a good prime rib, steak, beef tongue, pig's feet and liver! (Grew up on a farm, we ate everything. ) I know, there's no accounting for tastes.
Just a tad different from when I lived in Canada.

For me the issue is food safety in the example I cited. Leaving rice beans meat etc on the counter overnight!

I don't eat much locally prepared food. I don't use much oil or salt or msg. I don't eat white bread , white rice etc. I rarely eat street food.

I do know that the diet here is often lacking in both protein and vegetables.

Just to throw a spanner into the conversation, I love to cook and will finally be moved down full time in July.  My question is where to get the spices I need to cook , Thai, Indian and middle eastern?  Really looking for a good sources for Curry, Cardamom, garam massalla,  fresh ginger root, ect. ect.

I love some of the local dishes and cant wait to experiment to see what I can do with those too.

I suggest packing a large supply in your checked baggage. Fresh ginger is in almost every store. Small jars of curry usually also. I'm sure that in Santiago, Puerta Plata & Santo Domingo will be no problem.  I use friends who come down to bring some also.  You can have a frien buy it & use a mail service such as EPS or CMP to ship it here. You will have fun incorporating local produce * fruits in your dishes, I sure do!  Good luck & welcome to the site & to the island. keep  us informed of when & where & how you're doing.

What part of the island will you be living?

When you find a source, please let me know. I will be looking for spices too. I might do as suggested and bring some with me. I think I read on another blog that good vanilla is hard to find.

My wife is Dominican and a great cook.  She makes a delicious Sancocho.  I will ask her to reply.  Thanks!

I welcome any and all local hints & recipes. I would  post some of my own adaptations of local dishes. Have to adapt 'cause I can't always figure them out.  Cooking is simple!  Nothing more than using the process of heat transfer to change the ingredients to a new & different form. an amazing process that enhances our minds, bodies & enjoyment of life. Just for example, look what it does to an egg. A thousand ways to change it to sublime bliss in the mouth.  Much more pleasing than sucking eggs, don't ya think?

Planner I couldn't agree more. I too try to limit my rice intake and wish there were more veggies and better meat selection.

Old but worthy thread to reinitiate and hopefully get members to enlighten us on some Dominican cooking (- I am hoping cruffman chips in as he is apparently a dab hand at cooking and hoping he will pass on some of his local recipies).

Here is a recipe one type of Dominican food that I like:

Pasteles en Hoja de Yucca con Pollo

Ingredients
2 Pounds Cooked Chicken Breast with 2 MAGGI® My Flavor Chicken Broth Tablets, 2 bay leaves, ½ cup of minced onion, ½ cup of minced onion, ½ Cup of red pepper and 2 cups of water and crushed
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 Cup Green Olives, minced
3 Pounds Cassava (Yucca) Peeled, guavated and drained
1 Unit Evaporated Milk Carnation UTH 135 ml
1 large tablespoon sugar
2 large tablespoons Bija dissolved in ¼ cup of hot Oil
3 large tablespoons sour orange juice
3 large tablespoons Sazón Completo Maggi®
Instructions
Step 1
To prepare the dough, in a bowl, combine the yucca with the oil with the CARNATION® UHT Evaporated Milk, the MAGGI® Complete Seasoning, the oil with the annatto, the sugar and the orange sour.

Step 2
Form the cakes with the filling, olives and raisins. Boil for 30 minutes in plenty of hot salted water. After time, remove from the water and serve.

I often pick these up as a snack on the roadside travelling to Santo Domingo at the junction of the Monte Plata road from Don Juan - nice but a bit too much oil!

And Yucca fries are soo much better than any french fries! A must try.

Does anyone have recipies that use chinola and ginger?

I came across one dish using these two ingredients with pork several years back which was suppisedly a dish from Samana where both are commonly grown. The acidic and tart tastes mixed well was my recollection.

I love them both!!! Thank you for recipe!

Chinola and ginger  peaks my interest! 

I like anything sweet and sour so adding ginger is a natural......

I don't cook but will watch this with interest.  2 of my businesses have Dominican chefs let's see what I can pry out of them!!!

We (meaning Rocky;)) use a lot of ginger when we cook, but I've also made my own ginger beer since I can't find it here in LT!

Cannot find the Dominican recipe using ginger and passion fruit yet.

May as well try this rum punch with both in the meantime:



Ingredients send grocery list
Ginger Simple Syrup
1 four inch long piece of ginger, peeled and cut into 5 chunks
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Rum punch
1 part freshly squeezed lime juice
2 parts ginger simple syrup
3 parts dark Caribbean rum
2 parts freshly squeezed orange juice
2 parts passionfruit juice

You get the best ginger from Samana so they say but also look out for the turmeric roots.

Berenjenas en salsa de chinola y jengibre

https://superpola.com/recetas/berenjena … gredientes

Fish in Chinola and Ginger Sauce



Ingredients
1 Pound White Fish Fillet
1 large tablespoon Maggi® Natural Seasoning,
1/4 Cup Roasted Sesame
1 large tablespoon butter
1/2 large tablespoon olive oil
1/2 Cup White Onion In Julienne
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 Units Garlic Cloves Crushed
1 Cup Red Bell Pepper in strips
1/2 Cup Concentrated Chinola Juice
1 cup water
1 tablespoon unsalted soy sauce
1 large tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions
Step 1
Season the fish with the MAGGI® Very Natural Seasoning, pass through the sesame and seal in the hot butter, brown on both sides, cook for 15 minutes, remove from the heat and reserve.

Step 2
In the same pan, sauté the onion, ginger, garlic and peppers for 5 minutes, pour in the chinola juice, water, soy sauce and sugar, let it thicken and add the reserved fish and sesame oil, cook for 10 more minutes, remove from heat and serve hot.

Pork loin a la chinola



https://superpola.com/recetas/lomo-de-c … a-chinola/  - you can google translate for ingredients and recipe.

No ginger used but could adapt and use.

They are a bit mean on the sauce in the picture imo.

ddmcghee wrote:

We (meaning Rocky;)) use a lot of ginger when we cook, but I've also made my own ginger beer since I can't find it here in LT!

We have Ginger Beer here in Cabrera..... about 50 pesos a can

Ask your local supermarket

Some great sounding & looking recipes. If I could watch and write down everything that my wife puts into some the dishes she makes I'm sure that it some would be similar as per several pics shown look very much like what she makes. All taske great with great use of oregano.

Now I am hungry!

WillieWeb wrote:

[
We have Ginger Beer here in Cabrera..... about 50 pesos a can

Ask your local supermarket

Super Pola sometimes carries the Fever Tree or Q - one of those higher-end brands - for 125 pesos for 6 or 8 ounces. That's too much for a single cocktail! At 50 pesos, I'd buy it!

It's a Caribe brand - not imported

Sorry I can't pull it off the top my head

If you see it, let me know! I'll then ask the stores if they can get it for me. I'd be happy to buy a case at a time. For now, I'll keep making it myself! It's easy enough and I can somewhat control the sugar!