Sancocho
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. If you are unfamiliar with RSS feeds, click here. Thanks for visiting!
Sancocho is the chicken noodle soup of Panama, plus the best cure for a long, late night of drinking. Late night stops for a bowl of sancocho reminded me of diner stops in NYC. Old friends meet up and compare notes on clubs and bars at one of the several Niko’s in the city, a cafeteria-style restaurant serving up Panamanian fare from steam tables, open 24-hours, every day. A more specific example of this is when night clubs serve up sancocho at 3AM on New Year’s Eve. My favorite spot, though, is Jap Jap (named after the sound a chicken makes). Jap Jap is an outdoor, large roadside place in Panama City where they sell killer rotisserie cooked chicken and their version of a souvlaki, basically grilled beef on a nice hero-like roll. The sancocho comes in a large styrofoam cup, and consists of pieces of stewed hen sitting in a yucca-thicken broth, studded with culantro. It is pretty hard to spend $10 here – portions are ample and nothing is expensive. This is the kind of fast food the Grub Blogger can approve: Tied to the culture, locally owned and with fresh ingredients. Read more…
