La bandera dominicana recipe

The everyday Dominican lunch plate: three separate preparations, white rice, stewed red beans and stewed meat, laid side by side like the flag.

14 hours and 30 minutesmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 400 g long-grain rice
• 400 g red kidney beans
• 800 g chicken thighs
• 200 g auyama squash
• 200 ml tomato sauce
• 1 onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 4 clove garlic
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 60 ml sour orange juice
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil

How to make La bandera dominicana

1. Soak 400 g red kidney beans overnight, then simmer them in 1.5 litres of unsalted water for about 1 hour 30 until tender; keep the cooking liquid.
2. Season 800 g chicken thighs with 4 crushed garlic cloves, 1 tbsp oregano, 60 ml sour orange juice and salt, and marinate 30 minutes.
3. For the carne guisada, brown the chicken in 4 tbsp oil over high heat, add half the chopped onion and bell pepper and 200 ml tomato sauce, cover and simmer 30 minutes with a splash of water until a dark gravy forms.
4. For the habichuelas guisadas, fry the remaining onion, bell pepper and a little garlic in 4 tbsp oil, add 200 ml tomato sauce and 200 g diced auyama squash, then pour in the beans with their liquid.
5. Simmer the beans 25 minutes, mashing the squash into the broth; the squash is what thickens them, do not skip it.
6. For the rice, rinse 400 g long-grain rice until the water runs clear, boil it in 600 ml salted water with 4 tbsp oil until the water is absorbed, then cover and steam on low for 20 minutes.
7. Stir chopped cilantro into the beans and the stewed meat at the very end.
8. Plate the three preparations side by side, never mixed into one pot: rice, then beans, then meat with its gravy.
9. Serve with a simple green salad and slices of avocado.

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