Fresh Pacific crab simmered in a thick coconut-milk stew with sweet pepper, spring onion and plantain, the shell-on pieces carried to the table so the broth pools inside. The flagship dish of Buenaventura.
Encocado de jaiba is the crab counterpart of the better-known encocado de pescado, and is named the flagship dish of Buenaventura. Jaiba is a large crab harvested from the mangroves of the Colombian Pacific. The Afro-Pacific technique of simmering shellfish in coconut milk with a sofrito of spring onion, sweet pepper and achiote is the defining method of the coast, and is used on fish, crab, shrimp and river snail alike.
Sweet, briny crab meat in a rich, faintly sweet coconut sauce that clings to the shell. The sofrito of spring onion and sweet pepper is there but quiet, letting the crab lead. Eaten by cracking the shell at the table so the broth runs back into it.
The crabs are cleaned but left in their shell-on pieces, which keeps the meat attached and lets the broth season it from both sides. The coconut milk is split: part goes into the sofrito to fry and concentrate, part is added at the end to keep the sauce creamy. A green plantain, sliced, thickens the sauce with its starch as it cooks down.
Variations
A southern variant adds pipilongo for a peppery warmth. Some cooks stir in coconut cream at the end for a richer finish.
On the Palate
Where Encocado de Jaiba sits in the Colombian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 16 min
Clean 5 jaiba crabs (about 800g total), keeping the body pieces in their shells; set aside.
- 24 min
Blend 4 spring onions, 1 red sweet pepper, 2 cloves garlic and 1 tsp achiote with a splash of water into a smooth sofrito.
- 36 min
Fry the sofrito in 2 tbsp oil for 4 minutes, then pour in 300ml coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
- 414 min
Add the crab pieces and 1 green plantain sliced into rounds; simmer covered for 25 minutes until the crab is cooked and the sauce thickens.
Watch outAdd the sliced green plantain with the crab — its starch is what thickens the sauce as it simmers down.
- 54 min
Stir in another 100ml coconut milk, cook 3 minutes more, and adjust salt.
Watch outStir the last of the coconut milk in at the end and cook only briefly — boil it hard and the sauce splits and turns oily.
- 62 min
Serve in deep bowls with the crab pieces on top, with rice on the side.
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