Traditional Panamanian Dishes You Should Try
Ten traditional Panamanian dishes worth ordering, what each one is, and when locals actually eat them.
Panama’s traditional cooking is domestic food that made its way onto restaurant menus, which means each dish has a moment attached to it â a Sunday, a breakfast, a November holiday. Here are ten worth ordering, and when a Panamanian would actually eat them.
Ten dishes and their moment
- Sancocho de gallina. Clear hen broth with ñame root and culantro. Sunday lunch, and the recognised cure for a long night.
- Arroz con pollo. Rice cooked with chicken, sweet pepper and annatto. Birthday parties and family gatherings.
- Carimañola. Yuca dough stuffed with beef and fried. Breakfast or an afternoon snack.
- Hojaldre. Fried dough eaten at breakfast with fried cheese, eggs or steak.
- Tamal de olla. Maize dough with chicken or pork; the pot version is served in a dish rather than wrapped. Christmas and celebrations.
- Ropa vieja. Shredded beef stewed in tomato and pepper. Weekday lunch. Not the same as the Cuban dish of the same name.
- Arroz con guandú. Rice with pigeon peas and coconut milk, from the Caribbean coast. The standard side at any celebration.
- Guacho. A soupy rice, somewhere between risotto and stew, made with seafood or smoked pork. Comfort food.
- Ceviche de corvina. Sea bass cured in lime with red onion. Any time, usually as a snack.
- Mamallena. Bread pudding with raisins and cane syrup. The dessert of childhood.
The ingredients that make it taste Panamanian
- Culantro â the long-leaf herb that carries sancocho. Not cilantro.
- Ñame and otoe â starchy roots that thicken broths.
- Ají chombo â habanero, used as a condiment rather than cooked into the dish.
- Raspadura â unrefined cane sugar in a block, used in desserts and sauces.
- Pixvae â peach palm fruit, boiled and eaten with salt or turned into a cream. Unmistakably local.
Where these show up on a menu
Modern Panamanian kitchens tend to take the tradition and rebuild it â a tamal turned into a pizza base, a sancocho reduced into a rice, a mamallena fried in panko and served with coconut ice cream. That is worth seeking out, because it is where the country’s cooking is going. In Casco Antiguo, Aya la Vida works exactly that way, on Avenida A and Calle 12 Oeste.
Frequently asked questions
Which single dish best represents Panama?
Sancocho. If you try one thing, that is the one.
Is Panamanian ropa vieja the same as the Cuban one?
No. They share a name and a technique, and differ in seasoning and accompaniment.
When is tamal season?
Christmas and the November holidays, though restaurants serve it year round.
What is a raspao?
Shaved ice with fruit syrup and condensed milk, sold from carts in the plazas for a couple of dollars.
Are these dishes heavy?
Some are â the fried and the stewed. Ceviche, tiradito and the seafood side of the menu are light.
Keep reading
- Where to Eat in Panama City: A Local Guide
- Panamanian Food: What to Eat in Panama City
- Ron Abuelo: el ron de Panama y como tomarlo
Aya la Vida is in Edificio La Cuadra, Avenida A and Calle 12 Oeste, Casco Antiguo, Panama City. Menu and opening hours on its official site; book a table here, see the menu, or plan a Copa stopover. You may also like Comida típica panameña: platos imperdibles.
Reserva tu mesa en Aya la Vida
Cocina panameña de autor en el Casco Antiguo de Ciudad de Panamá, Edificio La Cuadra, Avenida A y Calle 12 Oeste. Terraza al aire libre y música en vivo de jueves a sábado.
