Asopao de Pollo

Puerto Rican chicken and rice stew

This recipe has a long and delicious history. I learned how to make it from Maggie Smith, the owner of Tin Pan Alley, a bar-restaurant hangout in Times Square that was frequented by a mix of artists, sex workers, musicians, and small-time racketeers. Tin Pan Alley closed in 1988 during a Times Square redevelopment purge.

I was in my early twenties when I cooked, waited tables, and occasionally bartended at Tin Pan Alley. Maggie introduced me to cooking Puerto Rican and Italian food.

Although Asopao de Pollo is literally chicken stew, this version manages a kind of sumptuousness that makes it suitable for celebrations and holiday gatherings.

As with any such cornerstone recipes, there is no right way. Feel free to modify. Make it your own!

Serve with black beans, sautéed greens, green or sweet fried plantains, and crema.

Six or more servings

Sofrito

Sofrito is a fresh herb preparation that enriches many dishes in Latin American, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese cooking. It is used here to flavor the asopao.

Ingredients for Isa’s Sofrito

Isa Soto was a co-worker at Tin Pan Alley. I’ve left out the jalapeños.

• 6 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1/2 tsp dried oregano or a few sprigs of fresh oregano

• 1/2 bunch parsley

• 1 bunch cilantro

• 1 yellow onion

• 1 green or red pepper

• juice of 1/2 lemon or 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Sofrito Instructions

1. Grind everything in a blender or food processor until it’s the consistency of relish. You’ll have more than you need for the asopao. But not to worry. It keeps well in a mason jar in the fridge and can be used to bring more layers of flavor to many other dishes.

Asopao de Pollo

Ingredients

1. A 3-4 lb chicken cut into small pieces or 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into pieces

2. a generous 1/2 cup of sofrito or more if you’re into it

3. 1/2 lb italian sausage or 1 - 2 chorizo chopped up. Chorizo is pretty spicy hot, so adjust according to your taste.

4. 3 fresh tomatoes chopped or a cup of diced, canned tomatoes

5. 2 bay leaves

6. 1/2 cup chopped spanish olives with pimentos

7. 2 tbsp capers

8. 2 cups long grain white rice, not rinsed

9. 1 cup white wine - this may be omitted. Just add more broth or water.

10. 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth and/or water

11. Olive oil for sautéing

12. Ground pepper and salt to taste

13. Chopped cilantro for garnish

Instructions

• In a Dutch oven or heavy stock pot, brown the chicken and sausage in a small amount of olive oil. Use extra olive oil if using boneless, skinless chicken.

• Add sofrito and sauté until smells are released and chicken is nearly cooked.

• Add everything else except the cilantro.

• Cook until rice is slightly broken down and asopao is glossy due to the starch in the rice being released, but still a little soupy.

• Taste and adjust with ground pepper and salt if needed.

• Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Note: The sausage, olives, and capers supply a good deal of salt. The sofrito supplies a rich flavor. You may find that you do not need additional salt or pepper.

Instant Pot instructions

Proceed as above, but sauté chicken in olive oil in Instant Pot.

• Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes then let pressure relase naturally for 15 minutes. Release the remaining pressure manually.

A few of many possible additions

• golden raisins

• peas

• green beans and/or zucchini

• goji berries

• sliced green plantain cooked in the stew

• potatoes

• fresh corn kernals

• saffron - this addition really makes it a special treat, imho