{"id":44729,"date":"2024-09-08T21:55:18","date_gmt":"2024-09-08T21:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/familiakitchen.com\/?p=44729"},"modified":"2025-08-15T17:35:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T17:35:05","slug":"chicken-fricassee-or-pollo-en-fricase-puerto-rican-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/familiakitchen.com\/es\/chicken-fricassee-or-pollo-en-fricase-puerto-rican-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Pollo Fricas\u00e9 o Pollo en Fricas\u00e9, un Cl\u00e1sico Acogedor Boricua"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chicken fricassee is a belly-filling Puerto Rican abrazo. This time-honored cozy meal starts (as so much Boricua cooking does) with juicy chicken thighs: skin on, bone in. (Confession: We\u2019ve been known to break every rule in the Puerto Rican cook book and sneak in white meat to the pot, just to add a lighter alternative for non-dark meat lovers). The pollo is then braised on low for a nice long time in a tomato sauce with salt pork, onion, sofrito<\/a> and delicioso salty things like capers and pimiento-stuffed olives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollo en fricas\u00e9 is perfeci\u00f3n, a winner in our Puerto Rican chicken hall of fame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This delicioso dish is a Proustian double whammy. One, it is so flavorful, so comforting, it comes right behind Puerto Rican arroz con pollo<\/a> on my list of all-time favorite chicken dinners. (No light statement: We Puerto Ricans take our pollo very seriously.) Two, it invariably sends me to 1950s San Juan, Puerto Rico. I imagine it\u2019s one of the dishes my mom, Marisa, and her sister, my Titi Gloria, grew up eating in their Ashford Avenue home, after church. I can see their Sunday dinner table covered with an embroidered table cloth de hilo and the good silver laid out. Chicken fricassee was surely a favorite of my very serious grandfather and my gentle, elegant grandmother Roc\u00edo, who we called Nani.

Because this is exactly the kind of criollo meal Puerto Rican families have been gathering around for generations. Braising meat in the acidity of salsa de tomate reliably breaks down even the toughest chicken cuts into rich, juicy sabroso bites that fall off the bone. Serve a big spoonful of this stew over white rice with a fresh lettuce and tomato salad. Add a slice or two of avocado, sprinkled with salt and olive oil. Sigh. Hello, Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had one big problem, though: I didn’t have a chicken fricassee family recipe. It\u2019s been lost to time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I asked one of Familia Kitchen\u2019s favorite Puerto Rican food<\/a> cocineras, Michelle Ezratty Murphy,<\/a> a gifted homecook who is a childhood friend of mine, for a recipe recommendation. Michelle, as always, was happy to oblige and went straight into her kitchen to make us a how-to video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boricua chicken fricassee is \u201ddifferent from the French version, which has a creamy white sauce,\u201d explains Michelle. \u201dInstead of butter and flour, Puerto Rico\u2019s fricas\u00e9 en pollo is simmered in a tomato sauce. The flavors come from the sazon and sofrito<\/a>, giving this dish a definitively Boricua taste. My version includes potatoes, peas and carrots, making it a classic one-pan meal, a stew associated with the ultimate comfort food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among this dish\u2019s many joys is its set-it-and-forget-it quality. \u201dWe usually eat chicken fricassee on weekends or when having company over,\u201d says Michelle. \u201dBecause it\u2019s slow-cooked and can simmer on low heat until dinner is ready, the process of cooking helps to slow you down and really enjoy the meal without the weekday rush. While we pair this chicken with rice most of the time, it also tastes delicious with plantain maduros<\/a>. I love the added sweetness from the fried plantains<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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It\u2019s all about la salsita with pollo en fricas\u00e9. Be sure to ladle a big spoonful of the delicioso tomato-onion-wine sauce over the braised chicken and freshly made rice for maximum results, advises Michelle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If you like this classic plato Borinque\u00f1o, check out more of Michelle\u2019s signature Puerto Rican dishes, including her Familia Kitchen Grand Prize-winning arroz con pollo<\/a>, crispy tostones<\/a>, lasagna-like pastelon with layers of plantains and ground beef<\/a>, stuffed alcapurrias<\/a>, and her can\u2019t-stop-at-one empanadas with beef picadillo<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you, Michelle, for this chicken fricassee recipe. I will make it next weekend in your honor. Your dish is a Sunday blessing. I hope my grandparents, now together in el cielo with mi Titi Gloria, get wind of it and can somehow savor your heavenly fricas\u00e9, with all of my earthly love. \u2014 Kim Caviness, Familia Kitchen co-founder<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to Make Puerto Rican Chicken Fricassee?<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Chicken Fricassee or Pollo en Fricas\u00e9, Puerto Rican-Style<\/h2>\n\n
\n \t\t \t\t\tRecipe by Michelle Ezratty Murphy<\/span>\n \t\t\n
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