Pollo guisado was one of Familia Kitchen co-founder Kim\u2019s favorite meals growing up in Puerto Rico. \u201cI love how the braised tender meat slid off the bone of the chicken (usually thigh, although I secretly preferred white meat, which is pretty much a sin on the island). The savory sauce the pollo simmers in was a delicacy we savored, spooning it generously over the mandatory side of freshly steamed white rice. Add sweet plantain maduros, a slice of avocado sprinkled with salt and olive oil \u2014 and you are living la vida deliciosa, Boricua-style,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chicken is a big deal at Familia Kitchen. Pollo recipes are usually the top performers, and among our most searched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you can imagine all of us at Familia Kitchen were pretty intrigued when we first learned this stewed chicken staple is cooked slightly differently in the other Caribbean Latino place that loves this dish as much as Puerto Ricans. We\u2019re talking the Latino nation a couple hundred miles to the west. That\u2019s right, Puerto Rico\u2019s neighbor: Dominican Republic. The D.R.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belqui Millili-Ortiz <\/a>of the popular cooking blog Belqui\u2019s Twist is<\/a> one of Familia Kitchen\u2019s favorite Dominican homecooks, so who better to ask? She is a humble person, usually<\/em>. But not when it comes to this recipe. \u201cMy pollo guisado honestly is one of the most amazing-tasting chicken dishes I have ever had in my life,\u201d Belqui tells me. \u201cThis is the way that I grew up cooking pollo guisado, and it\u2019s the recipe I cook for all my non-Dominican friends because I know they will be super-impressed. So much so, that it is the top-requested dish when they come to visit. So that goes to tell you something!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n