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Panama Recipes

Two oceans’ worth of cooking at the crossroads of the Americas. Not sure what to eat in Panama? Start with Ropa Vieja Panameña, Arroz con Pollo Panameño, Sopa Borracha and Tortilla Panameña con Queso. Here are 6 authentic Panama recipes, each from a specific region, with cultural context and dietary substitutions for every table.
6 recipes
Sancocho de Gallina
Panama City, Panama · easy · 95 minA restorative hen soup with yam, yuca, and a mountain of culantro, Panama’s cure for everything from hangovers to heartbreak.
Tortilla Panameña con Queso
Panama City, Panama · easy · 25 minA thick, crisp-fried corn cake, not a thin tortilla at all, split hot and stuffed with melting white cheese, a staple Panamanian breakfast.
Ceviche Panameño
Panama City, Panama · easy · 25 minDiced corvina cured in lime with onion, celery, and habanero, the fish-market lunch sold in cups across Panama City.
Sopa Borracha
Panama City, Panama · medium · 55 minSponge cake drenched in a spiced rum-and-prune syrup, Panama's boozy celebration dessert, despite the 'soup' in its name.
Ropa Vieja Panameña
Panama City, Panama · medium · 175 minPanama's shredded beef: flank steak simmered tender then stewed in a sofrito of tomato, peppers, and onion with olives, capers, and culantro, served over rice.
Arroz con Pollo Panameño
Panama City, Panama · easy · 70 minPanama's one-pot chicken and rice, tinted with achiote and studded with peas, carrots, and green olives; the family dish that feeds a crowd.
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