Rondón

The Afro-Antillean coconut stew of Panama's Caribbean coast: fish simmered in fresh coconut milk with plantain, yam, yuca, and breadfruit, seasoned with culantro, sweet pepper, and garlic

Origin: Bocas del Toro & Colón, Panama

From the journey of Coconut.

Rondón is the coconut stew of the Caribbean coast of Panama, and of the neighbouring coasts of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Its name is the Jamaican run down, the dish in which coconut milk is simmered until it reduces, or runs down, into a rich, oily sauce, and it came to the isthmus with the Afro-Antillean workers, most of them from Jamaica, who arrived from the 1850s to build the Panama Railroad, the banana plantations of Bocas del Toro, and later the canal. In Bocas del Toro and Colón it is made with the coast's own ingredients. Fresh coconuts are grated and squeezed for their milk, which is cooked with onion, garlic, sweet pepper, and culantro; the starchy vegetables of the coast go in, green plantain, yam, yuca, otoe, and breadfruit, and fish, crab, or lobster is added at the end, sometimes fried first. It is the dish most closely identified with Bocas, and Panama's Ministry of Culture lists it amongst the province's gastronomic traditions.

Ingredients

Base

800 ml coconut milk, ideally fresh (from 2 grated coconuts squeezed with hot water)
1 onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 sweet pepper, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
4 culantro leaves, chopped (or 2 tbsp coriander)
1 whole hot pepper (ají chombo or Scotch bonnet), optional

Vegetables

2 green plantains, peeled and cut into chunks
300 g yam (ñame), peeled and cut into chunks
300 g yuca, peeled and cut into chunks
250 g breadfruit or taro (otoe), peeled and cut into chunks (optional)

Fish

800 g firm white fish steaks, such as snapper or grouper, seasoned with salt, pepper, and lime

To Finish

Salt and black pepper

Method

Put the coconut milk in a wide, heavy pot with the onion, garlic, sweet pepper, tomato, half the culantro, and the whole hot pepper. Simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until it has reduced by a third and begins to look oily at the edges.
Add the plantain, yam, yuca, and breadfruit, with a little water if needed to half-cover them, and simmer, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes, until tender.
Lay the fish on top of the vegetables, spoon over some sauce, cover, and simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes, until just cooked.
Season with salt and pepper, remove the hot pepper before it bursts, scatter over the remaining culantro, and serve in deep bowls.

Notes

Crab, lobster, conch, or a mixture of seafood can replace the fish. Tinned coconut milk works, but fresh milk gives the traditional texture and flavour.

The Gastrographer

Name: Rondón
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Panama
Ingredients: 800 ml coconut milk, ideally fresh (from 2 grated coconuts squeezed with hot water); 1 onion, sliced; 4 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 sweet pepper, chopped; 1 tomato, chopped; 4 culantro leaves, chopped (or 2 tbsp coriander); 1 whole hot pepper (ají chombo or Scotch bonnet), optional; 2 green plantains, peeled and cut into chunks; 300 g yam (ñame), peeled and cut into chunks; 300 g yuca, peeled and cut into chunks; 250 g breadfruit or taro (otoe), peeled and cut into chunks (optional); 800 g firm white fish steaks, such as snapper or grouper, seasoned with salt, pepper, and lime; Salt and black pepper

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

To explore — select an ingredient below · click any location dot on the map for recipes and stories · browse the information panel on the right · trace the full journey on the timeline.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control