Plantain Stew / Banana Stoba

Information

Banana Stobá (Plantain Stew) is a traditional Curaçao stew made with ripe plantains, sweet potatoes, potatoes, salted beef, and pork tail. The combination of ripe plantains and sweet potatoes with the salted meats gives this hearty stew a delicious balance of sweet and savory flavors.

Cinnamon and annatto add a distinctive flavor and aroma, while all the ingredients are slowly cooked together until tender and the flavors are beautifully combined. Banana Stobá is a comforting dish full of flavor and tradition and is a wonderful example of Curaçao’s rich culinary heritage.

Ingredients

• 2 Ripe plantain. Not too ripe. Needs to be yellow with some spots
• 2 Big sweet potatoes
• 2 Big potatoes
• 1 lbs of salted beef
• 1 lbs of pig tail
• 1 piece of cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon of ground annato.
• ½ Onion
• 1 Cooking spoon of butter
• 2 Cooking spoon of sugar

Preparation

1. Cut the beef and the pork in smaller pieces and let them sit overnight in water to get rid of some of the salt. Make sure all the meat is submerged into the water. If desire you can boil them for 5 minutes instead to remove salt..
2. Next morning rinse the tail and the beef thoroughly.
3. Put the meats, butter in a pot with water. Make sure there is about 2.5 to 3 inches of water on top of the meats in the water.
4. Put the pot on medium high heat and let them boil until the meats are soft.
5. Dice up the plantain, the potatoes and the sweet potatoes.
6. Add all the rest of the ingredients into the pot. When all ingredients are in the pot, the water level should be the same height as the contents in the pot.
7.  Mix all the ingredients in the pot and let it cook for a little pit more.
8. When the plantain is soft the stew is ready.
9. Can serve with funchi or rice