A typical dish from Costa Rica – part 2

How did you like last week’s rice and beans dish?

Today we have the chicken recipe to go with it.

Two things are special about it: the sugar and the Lizano sauce.

The sugar is added mainly to give the chicken a nice color. A Costa Rican laughingly explained to me that they don’t like the meat white.

Often the meat is colored with anatto (also called achote). Then it becomes bright red.

The sugar also caramelizes and gives a slightly sweet taste.

Lizano sauce, on the other hand, is used in Costa Rica for almost everything. Just like soy sauce in Asia or ketch-up in America. It consists of vegetables, onions, chilies, and spices. It is savory, but not very hot.

If you don’t have Lizano sauce available, you can use soy sauce.

Enjoy!

Chicken Costa Rica-Caribbean style

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1

Course Main Course

Cuisine Centralamerica, Costa Rica

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

1 chicken cut into pieces about 1 kg
1 lime juice only
1 pepper bell
10 cm celery
1 onion
About 1/2 handful of coriander leaves
1 sprig thyme
2 tbsp Lizano sauce or soy sauce
Salt/pepper to taste
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp sugar
2 dl coconut milk
1 tbsp tomato paste

Instructions

Mix chicken pieces with lime juice, let stand for a short time, then drain off the juice.
Wash pepper bell and celery and cut into pieces of about 0.5 cm in size
Peel and chop onion
Chop coriander leaves
Add thyme, Lizano sauce, salt and pepper to the vegetables and mix well.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
Add sugar and let it caramelize until it is very dark brown (almost black).
Add chicken pieces and fry well on all sides
Add vegetables, coconut milk and tomato paste and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Add more coconut milk if needed