Pabellón Criollo is the national dish of Venezuela. The 5th of July, is Venezuela’s National Day and this yummy dish will most certainly be on lots of Venezuelans’ table.
Pabellón Criollo is said to be representing the union of the Europeans, Africans and Indigenous, which all met in Venezuela after Columbus arrived in the Americas. This dish, indeed, displays three main colors: white (rice), black (beans) and brown (meat). You can also ornate this dish with some fried plantains (called “tajadas” in Venezuela). It is traditionally served with “arepas” (Venezuelan corn bread) and with some white cheese. Accompany this dish with a glass of “Papelón con limón” (lenon juice with brown sugar).
According to Raiza Nieves, the IngredientMatcher Country Chef for Venezuela, this recipe is the most traditional way to prepare Pabellón Criollo. This recipe is very simple and easy to cook. You don’t need to be very skilled, you just need to like cooking and have enough time to prepare it. Raiza invites you to try this recipe, and enjoy a delightful meal from Venezuela!
The national dish of Venezuela - Pabellón Criollo
Ingredients
- 200 g rice
- 500 ml water for the rice
- 2 plantains
- 250 ml oil
Black beans
- 500 g black beans canned/pre-cooked
- ½ bell pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 onion
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp cumin
- 2 tsp salt
- 100 g sugar optional
- 100 g bacon
- 50 ml oil
Pulled meat
- 1 kg flank steak
- 3 liter water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 small carrot
- 1 small celery
- oregano to taste
- black pepper to taste
- ½ bell pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 onion
- 1 tomato
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp cumin
- 2 tsp salt
- 50 ml oil
Instructions
- Chop the carrot and celery
- Put the flank meat in a big pot along with the water, bay leaf, carrot, celery, oregano, pepper and salt
- Cook the meat until soft and tender (around 2 hours)
- Reserve 250 ml of the stock and get rid of the rest
- In the meantime, chop the bacon, garlic, bell pepper, onion and tomato. Split garlic, bell pepper and onion in two equal parts (one will be used with the meat and the other with the beans)
- Start cooking the rice just before the meat is ready
- Let the meat cool a bit while you prepare the beans by heating them up together with salt at the same time as you stir-fry bacon together with half the garlic, onion and bell pepper. Add some cumin and pepper and set aside
- Shred the meat and stir-fry it together with the other half of the garlic, bell pepper and onion. Season with salt, cumin and pepper
- Add chopped tomatoes and the reserved stock to the meat
- Bring to boil and cook for 10 minutes
- While boiling add beans to the bacon stir-fry and fry them in hot oil until the liquid is evaporated. Here you can add the extra sugar
- Serve it the traditional way with each part separate on a plate
About the Country Chef
Raiza Nieves is an English teacher who loves cooking and has a bakery called Casa Creativa Gourmet that she runs with her daughter. She was born in Caracas and this is where she learned, at the age of 12, to cook Pabellón.
Read more about IngredientMatcher’s Country Chefs in the Foodie section
Read more about national dishes
Read more about other national dish recipes published on this blog
Hello Raiza,
Do you cook the meat in the oven? Covered? What temperature should I cook it at?
Gracias,
Amber
Hello Amber! The meat is boiled in a big pot for 2 hours, then it is shredded and after that stir fried
My mother in law is Venezuelan. I am very fond of her Venezuelan cooking. I also love the ensalada de gallina. (With the green apples) so delicious. And the plantains with mayo while their still warm is so wonderful.
Thank you for this recipe I will be making this very soon!