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Rich, creamy and exceptionally delicious, Pollo en Crema y Loroco could become your NEW favourite way to enjoy chicken!
This easy Guatemalan dish of chicken with loroco in cream sauce features tender chicken nestled in a decadent cream sauce packed with loroco, an edible flower popular in both Guatemala and El Salvador.
It’s a luxurious yet simple meal that’s easy enough for a busy weeknight and tasty enough for company. It’s ready in about 45 minutes!
What Makes This Guatemalan Chicken Recipe Special?
- Unlike many other traditional Guatemalan recipes (such as kak-ik, pepián and jocon), pollo en loroco doesn’t require toasting, grinding or blending of seeds, chiles and tomatoes for the sauce.
- Ready in around 45 minutes, it’s quick and easy to make.
- While it’s easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner, traditionally it’s also a popular dish for family get togethers and celebrations in Guatemala.
- The generous splash of heavy cream gives the sauce a beautiful creamy consistency that makes it taste amazing especially when served with fluffy white rice.
- A similar Guatemalan dish known as pollo en crema (chicken in cream sauce in English) is also delicious but the addition of loroco takes this Guatemalan chicken dinner to the next level.
- This recipe is another way to enjoy flor de loroco. Loroco flowers are most often seen in soups or stuffed inside pupusas (the popular Guatemalan street food) so this is another way to enjoy their unique, delicate flavour.
What is Loroco?
Fernaldia pandurata or loroco is a hardy vine that grows from seed both in the wild and in cultivated form in many parts of Central America. It’s a resilient perennial that will grow in harsh conditions.
In Zacapa, Guatemala my mother-in-law has several loroco plants growing near her outdoor kitchen. The plants don’t seem bothered by the open fires, chickens and other hazards nearby.
While the roots of a loroco plant are poisonous, its flowers are edible. Flor de loroco (loroco flowers) generally bloom in the spring. The buds are harvested by hand and usually cooked before being eaten.
You can buy loroco fresh, frozen or pickled. This recipe calls for fresh or frozen loroco. It’s available in the frozen section at most Latin grocers.
In Canada, I buy frozen flor de loroco at Perola’s supermarket (247 Augusta), one of several Latin grocers in Toronto’s Kensington Market.
When shopping for frozen loroco, try to choose bags that don’t have ice crystals all over the flower buds.
The crystals signify freezer burn which can alter the taste.
What Does Loroco Taste Like?
Since it is a herbaceous vine, it has a slightly herbal and earthy taste. Although it’s got delicate floral notes, loroco isn’t sweet like lavender but is mildly pungent, nutty and musky. It’s a bit like rapini without the bitterness.
The texture of fresh loroco is similar to asparagus and artichoke.
Can You Eat Loroco Raw?
Yes, you can eat loroco buds raw! Much like purslane (also known as verdolagas) — another wild plant that’s foraged or cultivated throughout Mexico and Latin America — loroco is delicious in salads and sprinkled on soups where it wilts slightly in the hot broth.
The texture deteriorates when frozen, so thawed previously frozen loroco doesn’t really work well for salads. But you can certainly stuff it inside a tortilla with melted cheese without cooking it first.
Note: The roots of the loroco plant are poisonous. So, don’t eat them raw or cooked.
Ingredients
Much as with any other traditional Guatemalan dish, there are as many variations of pollo en crema con loroco as there are home cooks. Even within our own family, everyone has their own variation.
For example, many people include cilantro or tomatoes. This is the version I like the best as the red pepper provides some colour without tinting the sauce. The ingredients include:
- chicken, cut into serving pieces with skin and excess fat removed.
- heavy cream (Go for 35% cream. Don’t try to cut calories by using half and half as it will curdle),
- butter,
- loroco buds (fresh or frozen),
- fresh garlic,
- white onion,
- leek,
- sweet red pepper,
- celery.
- fresh thyme,
- bay leaf,
- salt and pepper.
Step by Step Instructions – How to Make Pollo en Crema y Loroco
Please scroll down to the recipe card for the precise ingredients and method.
1. Thaw the frozen loroco and drain any excess moisture and blot dry with a paper towel. If you’re using fresh loroco, wash it thoroughly and pat dry.
2. Place the chicken pieces in a large pot with enough water to cover the chicken. Add salt.
3. Cover, bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 25 minutes or until cooked. Skim off any grey foam that might appear while cooking.
You can tell if the chicken is cooked when the pieces reach an internal temperature of 165°F. Remove chicken from the heat, strain (reserving the broth) and set chicken aside covered to keep warm.
4. Heat the butter in a large, deep skillet until melted. Add the finely-diced onion, chopped garlic, thinly sliced celery and leeks, chopped sweet red pepper, salt and pepper.
Sauté until softened but not browned.
5. Add the bay leaf and fresh thyme leaves, cooking until fragrant.
6. Pour the strained chicken broth into the skillet with the vegetables, add the loroco and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium and simmer.
7. Add the heavy cream, stirring while pouring it into the skillet. Bring slowly to a simmer over medium-low heat.
8. Return the chicken to the skillet and spoon the cream sauce over the chicken. Cover and simmer for five minutes until flavours merge. Adjust salt to taste.
9. Garnish the pollo con loroco with red pepper slivers or sprigs of thyme. Serve with fluffy white rice and tortillas del comal.
Variations and Tips
- Try to cut the chicken pieces into uniform pieces so they cook evenly. Chicken breasts can be cut in half crosswise.
- Bring the heavy cream to room temperature before adding it to the skillet so it doesn’t curdle. Bring it gently to a low simmer.
- Substitute finely chopped cilantro leaves for the thyme.
- Add chopped Roma tomatoes for a more saucy, red sauce.
- Some cooks brown the chicken pieces before they boil them. I find that’s an extra step that just dries out the chicken.
- If you’d like a thicker sauce, you can make a paste from flour or corn starch and water. Add it before you add the cream.
- For pollo con crema Guatemalteco (Guatemalan chicken in cream sauce), just omit the loroco completely.
- For pollo en crema de broccoli substitute frozen or fresh broccoli florets for the loroco.
How to Serve Chicken with Loroco in Cream Sauce
- Pollo con loroco is most often served with white rice. But I also like to serve it with Guatemalan Black Beans and Rice. I love how the colour of the black beans contrasts with the creamy white sauce. The earthy flavour of the beans really complements the richness of the sauce.
- Serve with a simple green salad followed by a light dessert of fresh fruit. Or, with Ensalada Rusa (Russian Salad) a potato salad that’s popular throughout Latin America.
- A glass of iced hibiscus tea – fresco de rosa de jamaica – is a beautiful drink to enjoy with this meal.
Pollo en Crema y Loroco - Chicken with Loroco in Cream Sauce
Equipment
- large pot
- deep skillet
- sharp knife
Ingredients
- 1 chicken cut into serving pieces with skin and excess fat removed. Save neck and back for soup.
- 1.5 cups heavy cream Go for 35% cream. Don't try to cut calories by using half and half as it will curdle,
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 5 ounces loroco buds fresh or frozen
- 1 clove fresh garlic chopped
- 1/2 cup white onion chopped
- 1 leek white part only
- 1/4 cup sweet red pepper chopped
- 1/2 cup celery. chopped
- 3 fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Thaw the frozen loroco and drain any excess moisture and blot dry with a paper towel. If you're using fresh loroco, wash it thoroughly and pat dry.
- Place the chicken pieces in a large pot with enough water to cover the chicken. Add salt.
- Cover, bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 25 minutes or until cooked. Skim off any grey foam that might appear while cooking.
- You can tell if the chicken is cooked when the pieces reach an internal temperature of 165°F. Remove chicken from the heat, strain (reserving the broth) and set chicken aside covered to keep warm.
- Heat the butter in a large, deep skillet until melted. Add the finely-diced onion, chopped garlic, thinly sliced celery and leeks, chopped sweet red pepper, salt and pepper. Saute until softened but not browned.
- Add the bay leaf and fresh thyme leaves, cooking until fragrant.
- Pour one cup of strained chicken broth into the skillet with the vegetables, add the loroco and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium and simmer.
- Add the heavy cream, stirring while pouring it into the skillet. Bring slowly to a simmer over medium-low heat.
- Return the chicken to the skillet and spoon the cream sauce over the chicken. Cover and simmer for five minutes until flavours merge. Adjust salt to taste.
- Garnish with slivers of sliced red bell pepper or sprigs of thyme. Serve with fluffy white rice and tortillas del comal.
Notes
- Cut the chicken pieces into uniform pieces so they cook evenly. Chicken breasts can be cut in half crosswise.
- Bring the heavy cream to room temperature before adding it to the skillet. Bring it gently to a low simmer so it doesn't curdle.
- Substitute finely chopped cilantro leaves for the thyme.
- Add chopped Roma tomatoes for a saucy, red sauce.
- If you'd like a thicker sauce, you can make a paste from flour or corn starch and water. Add it before you add the cream.
Nutrition
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Dividing her time between Canada, Guatemala and Mexico (or the nearest tropical beach), Michele Peterson is the founder of A Taste for Travel. Her award-winning travel and food writing has appeared in Lonely Planet’s cookbook Mexico: From the Source, National Geographic Traveler, Fodor’s and 100+ other publications.
Read more about Michele Peterson.
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Steve
Dish was great….. Had to “Improvise When to Add the Loroco”. It appears to be omitted for the recipe. ? With the vegetables before adding the Thyme and Bay Leaf?
Michele Peterson
Glad you enjoyed the dish Steve! And thanks for the feedback …I’ve clarified to add the loroco with the vegetables!
Dennis Littley
what a perfect recipe! Everyone really enjoyed this dish, and no one said “Chicken Again”!