Panama’s seafood traditions bring together the flavors of the country’s two coastlines, with recipes that make the most of the fresh catch.
Two local favorites offer different ways to enjoy these flavors: guacho de mariscos, a hearty, comforting stew packed with seafood and rice, and torrejitas de bacalao, crispy cod fritters that make a popular appetizer or snack.
Guacho De Mariscos: Panama’s Popular Seafood Stew
If you want to capture the richness of Panama’s seas with a dish, this is it.
Guacho is a hearty stew that falls somewhere between a soup and a traditional rice dish. It is made by slowly cooking rice in a generous amount of broth along with a feature ingredient that gives the dish its distinctive flavor. In Panama, the most popular versions are seafood guacho and porktail guacho.
This dish is part of a broader tradition of soupy rice dishes inherited from Spanish cuisine and later adapted with local ingredients. Over time, Panamanians incorporated staples such as yuca, ñame, culantro, and seafood from both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, creating something uniquely Panamanian.
Seafood guacho…
Afro-Caribbean influences also played an important role in the dish’s evolution.
Today, guacho de mariscos is considered one of the signature dishes of Panamanian cuisine. It can be found everywhere from fondas to family kitchens to upscale restaurants. You’ll find different variations depending on the region.
Add lime juice and hot sauce to your guacho and enjoy with some crispy patacones on the side.
Ingredients (Serves 6)
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 1/2 cup sweet pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup scallions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon hot pepper, finely chopped (optional)
- 1/4 cup culantro, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 pound (450 g) mixed seafood (shrimp, squid, clams, mussels, or a combination)
- 1 1/2 cups rice
- 6–7 cups shrimp or fish stock
- 3 cups cooked cassava (yuca), cut into cubes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot and sauté the garlic, onion, sweet pepper, scallions, culantro, and oregano until softened and fragrant.
- Add the paprika and seafood. Cook for several minutes, stirring frequently.
- Stir in the rice, allowing it to absorb the flavors of the sofrito.
- Add the cooked cassava and hot stock.
- Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Continue cooking until the rice is fully tender and the mixture develops a thick, stew-like consistency.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. If the guacho becomes too thick during cooking, add more stock as needed.
- Serve hot and garnish with freshly chopped culantro.
Multicultural Cod Fritters (Torrejitas De Bacalao)
Cod fritters are common among the afro-Panamanian population, in places like Colón, Bocas del Toro, Rio Abajo, and Juan Díaz.
Panamanians have been eating cod fritters ever since afro-Antillean workers from the construction of the Panama Canal made this delicacy known in the isthmus… a recipe brought all the way from the Caribbean. But its history goes way back—even before the afro-Antilleans made it their own. Cod fritters were born as a gastronomic specialty in the Mediterranean arch countries, specifically France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
The famous cod fritter recipe has many slight variations, depending on the country it’s being cooked in. The afro-Antillean recipe, which is the most common in Panama, calls for the dough to include flour and baking powder. However, this recipe I’m sharing with you today follows how it’s more commonly made in Portugal, with Caribbean spice, which is how my mom makes them.
Multicultural cod fritters
These cod fritters really are a mix of cultures… just like Panama.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound of cod, shredded
- 2 eggs
- 1 ají chombo, chopped (or to taste, optional)
- Mashed potatoes
- Cooking oil, preferably sunflower or canola
Mashed Potatoes
- 3 big potatoes
- 1/4 butter stick (or to taste)
- 1/3 cup of milk
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
Mashed Potatoes
- In a medium-sized pot, boil the potatoes until they are soft enough to mash. When ready, mix the butter, milk, salt, and pepper with the potatoes and mash everything together.
- Leave aside for now.
Cod
- In a medium-sized pot, boil the cod, remove water, and repeat the procedure two more times. This is done to de-salt the cod, as this type of fish tends to be preserved by salt-curing and drying.
You’ll boil the cod according to how salty you want your fritters to be. Sometimes you might have to boil the cod up to five times, depending on how salty it was and how much of the salt you want removed.
- After this, shred the cod and remove all bones.
Tip: If you soak the cod in water overnight, you won’t have to boil it as much to de-salt.
Fritters
- In a big bowl, mix the mashed potatoes, cod, and eggs together. If you want a spicy touch, add the chopped ají chombo.
- With a big spoon, take a small amount of the mix and pour it into the hot cooking oil. Fry until they are golden brown.
Sincerely,
