Chapea is a Dominican stew made with red or white beans, sausage, squash, rice, and a variety of herbs and spices. It is often served with bread and reflects the country’s love for hearty stews. The recipe can vary, but traditional versions call for longaniza sausage and sour orange juice. Other popular Dominican stews include sancocho, which adds potatoes and a variety of spices to the mix.
Chapea is a type of stew popular in some pastoral regions of the Dominican Republic. Its main ingredient is red or white beans, paired with sausage, squash, rice, plantains, and a combination of herbs and spices. As with many traditional recipes, the preparation of chapea can vary greatly from recipe to recipe and from family to family. It is one of many bean and rice dishes in the country and reflects the region’s penchant for thick, hearty stews that, when accompanied by bread, serve as a family dinner.
The traditional Dominican chapea calls for longaniza, a type of sausage native to the region. Instead of this, you can use pork sausages, ham or regular pork chops. Yellow squash grown in the Dominican Republic is used in local versions of chapea, but any type of summer squash or even squash can be used instead. The squash is broken up and reduced during the cooking process and is mostly used to thicken the stew.
A wide variety of flavoring herbs, spices, and vegetables can be used in the preparation of chapea. Cilantro, garlic, onion and green peppers are common additions. A crucial ingredient is sour orange juice, usually added in quantities of a few spoonfuls to give the dish a slightly citric flavour. If orange juice is not available, lime juice can be substituted. Longaniza or other meat is typically fried before being added to the soup to give it a smokier, crispier flavor and texture.
Breads or rolls are often served alongside chapea to soak up the juices from the stew. Total cooking time for the dish is about an hour, depending on how long it takes for the squash to puree and for the rice in the stew to become tender. Cooking time can be shortened by using canned instead of fresh, dried beans and by pureeing the squash in a food processor before adding it to the stew liquid.
Chapea is one of many traditional Dominican Republic meals that reflect the country’s Spanish-influenced tendencies to include beans and rice as the main components of a meal. Stews of various kinds are also popular dishes. Perhaps even more widely prepared than chapea is Dominican sancocho, a stew that is somewhat similar to chapea but adds potatoes, potatoes, and a variety of spices to the mix. Green plantains are also a staple in the Dominican Republic and are often fried and served as a side dish.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
