Tapao Esmeraldeño

The Afro-Ecuadorian fish and green plantain stew of Esmeraldas, cooked covered with onion, pepper, achiote, and a fistful of chillangua

Origin: Esmeraldas & the Pacific Lowlands

From the journey of Banana.

Esmeraldas, on Ecuador's northern Pacific coast, is the heart of Afro-Ecuadorian culture, and its history begins with a shipwreck. In 1553 a vessel carrying enslaved Africans ran aground off the coast, the captives escaped inland, and under a leader the Spanish came to call Alonso de Illescas they built free communities that the colonial authorities could neither conquer nor ignore. The cooking of the province, and of the Colombian Pacific coast to the north, grew out of those communities and the mangrove, river, and forest around them. Tapao is a worn form of tapado, covered, and describes the method: fish is laid over slices of green plantain in a pot with onion, sweet pepper, garlic, and achiote, the pot is covered, and everything steams in its own juices. The herb is chillangua, the local name for culantro. The name was given by Afro-Colombian communities in Cauca and Nariño and adopted across the border in Esmeraldas, where cooks say plainly that the chillangua is what gives their food its taste. Many households believe their ancestors brought the herb from Africa. The plant itself is American and grows wild throughout the region; what the tradition carried was the way of cooking with it. On the Colombian side of the border these herbs are grown in azoteas, raised gardens in old canoes and wooden boxes set on stilts or on rooftops, because the land floods. The same leaf, dried and packed in bijao leaves, is sold in the markets of Esmeraldas.

Ingredients

Fish

800 g firm white fish steaks (corvina, snapper, or sea bass)
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp salt

Stew

3 green plantains, peeled and cut into thick diagonal slices
2 tbsp achiote (annatto) oil
1 large red onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tomatoes, chopped
20 g chillangua (culantro) leaves, chopped
400 ml water or light fish stock
1 tsp salt

To Finish

1 handful chillangua leaves, to finish

Method

Rub the fish with the lime juice and salt and set aside.
Heat the achiote oil in a wide pot and cook the onion, pepper, and garlic with the cumin for 5 minutes, until soft and red-stained.
Add the tomatoes and half the chillangua and cook for 3 minutes more, then lay the plantain slices over the base in a single layer.
Pour in the water, add the salt, cover tightly, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Lay the fish on top of the plantain, cover again, and steam for 10 to 12 minutes, until the fish is just cooked.
Scatter over the remaining chillangua, cover for a minute more, and serve in deep plates with the broth.

Notes

Chillangua is culantro, sold in Caribbean and South-East Asian shops as culantro, recao, or ngò gai. A version enriched with coconut milk is made along the same coast; add 200 ml with the fish.

The Gastrographer

Name: Tapao Esmeraldeño
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Esmeraldas & the Pacific Lowlands
Ingredients: 800 g firm white fish steaks (corvina, snapper, or sea bass); 2 tbsp lime juice; 1 tsp salt; 3 green plantains, peeled and cut into thick diagonal slices; 2 tbsp achiote (annatto) oil; 1 large red onion, sliced; 1 green pepper, sliced; 4 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 tsp ground cumin; 2 tomatoes, chopped; 20 g chillangua (culantro) leaves, chopped; 400 ml water or light fish stock; 1 tsp salt; 1 handful chillangua leaves, to finish

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control