• Capital: Panama city
• Population: about 4 million
• Area: 74 177 km²
• Currency: US dollar

For my Panamanian meal I made ropa vieja and coconut milk. Ropa vieja is beef cooked in a tomato sauce with a bunch of spices. The beef is cooked and then shredded to make a pulled pork consistency. The coconut rice was rich and very tasty. Here are the recipes!

Ropa Vieja

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pound beef brisket
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons red wine
• 3 tomatoes
• 1/2 onion
• 2 ounce tomato paste
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

Start by cooking the meat. In a large pot, put the meat and add water to cover. bring to a boil on high heat and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the garlic powder, a little bit of salt and pepper, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hour.

After 1 1/2 hour, remove the beef from the cooking liquid and set the cooking liquid aside. Put the beef in a large bowl and shred using 2 forks.

Next, dice the onion, the bell pepper and the tomatoes. Finely chop the garlic, measure the sugar and the tomato paste.

In a large pan or a wok heat some oil and cook the onions and the bell peppers on medium heat until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 additional minute.

Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, add the meat the tomato paste and the wine. Stir together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add about 2 cups of the beef cooking liquid and stir. Let cook on medium heat until the liquid has reduced and you have a sauce that is a little thick.

Serve with coconut rice. The recipe follows!

Coconut rice

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rice
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 cups coconut milk (full fat)
• 1 cup water
• a few stems cilantro

Directions:

Finely chop the garlic and the cilantro. Mix the water and the coconut milk and measure the rice.

In a saucepan on medium heat, put the coconut oil and cook the garlic for about 30 seconds or until fragrant but not browned.

Add the rice, the cilantro, 1 large pinch of salt and the coconut milk and water mix. mix well and bring to a boil. reduce the heat to low and let cook for about 10 minutes. Don’t let all the liquid dry. If there is no liquid left add a little bit of water.

After 10 minutes, cover the pot and let cook on low heat for another 10 minutes.

When done, the rice should have absorbed all the liquid. Fluff with a fork and adjust salt if needed.

Buen provecho!