Rondón

Ingredients

Fish and seafood

• 1 kgfirm white fish, in large pieces
• 300 gprawns, if wanted
• juice of 2 limes
• salt

Coconut

• 3 tinscoconut milk, or the milk from 2 fresh coconuts

Ground provisions

• 400 gcassava, peeled and cut in chunks
• 2green plantains, in chunks
• 300 gyam or taro, in chunks
• 2sweet potatoes, in chunks
• 2green bananas, in chunks

Base

• 2onions, chopped
• 1red pepper, chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 3 sprigsfresh thyme
• 1whole panameño or scotch bonnet chilli
• 1 tspground black pepper
• 2 tbspoil
• salt

To finish

• a handful of culantro or coriander

To serve

• as a whole meal, in deep bowls

Directions

1. Pour the coconut milk into a wide heavy pot. Bring it to a gentle simmer over a medium heat. Cook it for twenty to thirty minutes. Stir it occasionally as it reduces. Do not let it boil hard, which makes it split unpleasantly. Add the oil, chopped onions and red pepper. Cook them for eight minutes until softened.
2. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and the thyme. Cook them down for five minutes. Adding the chilli needs a decision. Add the panameño chilli whole and unpierced. Piercing it makes the pot very hot indeed. Peel the cassava thickly, removing the pink underskin.
3. Cut out the woody central fibre, which never softens. Cassava must be cooked through, since raw cassava is toxic. Oil your hands before peeling the green plantains and bananas.
4. Cut everything into large chunks. Adding them is done by cooking time. Add the cassava and yam first, since they take longest. Add enough water to just cover everything. Simmer them for fifteen minutes. Add the plantains, green bananas and sweet potato. Simmer for another fifteen minutes.
5. Season with salt and black pepper. They should be tender but should hold their shape. Cut the fish into large pieces, since small ones fall apart. Squeeze lime juice over it and season it with salt.
6. Let it sit for fifteen minutes. Do not stir the pot at all once the fish is in. Spoon the liquid over the pieces instead. Add the prawns for the last four minutes only. Simmer it gently for ten to twelve minutes. The fish is done when it flakes at the thickest point.
7. Remove the whole chilli and the thyme stems. Stir in the chopped culantro off the heat. Taste it and adjust the salt at the end. The stew should be thick and rich rather than watery. Let it stand for five minutes before serving. Serving it is done in deep bowls. Ladle plenty of the coconut liquid over. It is a whole meal and needs nothing alongside.

Technique

• Reduce the coconut milk first until the oil separates, which is what the name refers to.
• Cassava must be cooked through, since raw cassava contains cyanogenic compounds.
• Do not stir once the fish is in, or it breaks apart.

Substitutions

• Any firm white fish, and crab or lobster are also used.
• Tinned coconut milk, which most cooks use.

Variations

• Made with crab or lobster.
• With salted pigtail added, which some households use.
• Made hotter, with the chilli pierced.

History

Limon’s Afro-Caribbean coconut milk fish and tuber stew, from the English run down; Jamaican railway workers brought it from the 1870s.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rondón?

Rondón is a soup & stew from Costa Rica: limón coconut stew of fish and ground provisions. Limon’s Afro-Caribbean coconut milk fish and tuber stew, from the English run down; Jamaican railway workers brought it from the 1870s.

How long does Rondón take to make?

Rondón takes 40 min of preparation and 1 hour 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Rondón?

Yes, within limits. Any firm white fish, and crab or lobster are also used. Tinned coconut milk, which most cooks use.

What is the most important thing to get right in Rondón?

Pour the coconut milk into a wide heavy pot. Bring it to a gentle simmer over a medium heat. Cook it for twenty to thirty minutes. Stir it occasionally as it reduces. Do not let it boil hard, which makes it split unpleasantly. Add the oil, chopped onions and red pepper. Cook them for eight minutes until softened.