Pulmay is the Chilean version of curanto — a stone-pit or pot-cooked feast of seafood, meat, potatoes, and sausages layered and steamed together. Where curanto-en-hoyo (already in this database) is cooked in an earth oven, pulmay is the stovetop version: the same ingredients cooked in a large pot. It is the food of Chiloé and the southern coast, the most festive one-pot meal in Chile.
Pulmay (also called pulmay or curanto en olla) is the stovetop version of curanto — the great festive mixed-cook of Chiloé. Where curanto-en-hoyo (already in this database) is cooked in a hole in the ground with heated stones, pulmay is the everyday and indoor version: the same layers of seafood, meat, potatoes, and sausages cooked in a large pot on the stove. It is the food of celebration in Chiloé — for weddings, community gatherings, and family feasts. The layering (seafood at the bottom, meat in the middle, potatoes on top) lets the flavors steam through each other, creating a broth that is the essence of the Chilean south.
A bowl with a piece of chicken, a chunk of pork, a smoked sausage, two types of potato, a mussel, and a clam, all bathed in a complex broth that tastes of sea and earth and smoke. Each component has absorbed the flavors of all the others. It is the most complete, most festive dish in Chilean cooking.
The layering is key: shellfish at the bottom (they release their juices, which steam everything above), then meat and sausage (which release fat), then potatoes (which absorb everything). A tight lid traps the steam; no water is added (the shellfish provide the liquid). The total cooking time is about an hour, and the result is a self-basting, self-seasoning one-pot feast.
Variations
The ingredient mix varies; some add milcao (potato bread, already in DB) and chapaleles; some use different shellfish; the meat varies.
On the Palate
Where Pulmay sits in the Chilean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour active + 1 hour waiting
- 15 min
Line the bottom of a large pot with 300 g mussels and 300 g clams (in their shells).
Watch outLay the shellfish on the very bottom — they release the juices that steam everything above, so no water is added.
- 23 min
Add a layer of 4 chicken thighs, 300 g pork ribs, and 1 chorizo.
- 33 min
Add 4 potatoes (halved), 2 sweet potatoes (chunked), and 200 g pumpkin chunks.
- 43 min
Sprinkle with 1 diced onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, salt, oregano, and a pinch of cumin.
- 51 min
Cover tightly (no water).
- 655 min
Cook over medium-low heat 50-60 minutes, until the shellfish open and the potatoes are tender.
Watch outKeep the lid tight and don't peek — done when the shells have opened and the potatoes are tender; a shut shell means undercooked.
- 71 min
The shellfish will release their juices, steaming everything above.
- 81 min
Serve in deep bowls, with the broth.
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