THE TYPICAL FOOD OF THE COUNTINES OF ECUADOR
SUCUMBIOS
Capibara meat, saíno, turtle, guanta, crocodile meat, and boa meat are common ingredients in Amazonian
dishes. Fish such as peiche, catfish, bocachico, and piranha are also popular. To cleanse their pallet, most
natives of the area wash down their meal with chicha, a drink made from fermented yucca, banana, and
the fruit of the chonta tree.
NAPO
Cuisine
Masato, made from yucca and banana, is a traditional dish in this region. Other dishes include
Chonchadura, a species of worm; Uchamango, made with chilli and fish; banana colada; plantain soup
with meat and boiled wheat, yucca soup, and chicha.
PASTAZA
Cuisine
Pastaza has several delicacies such as fish and palm heart maytos, guanta , guatusa, and danta stew,
sancocho,empanadas, and yucca bread. As in all other jungle communities, chicha made from yucca or
banana is the most popular drink.
MORONA SANTIAGO
ZAMORA CHIMCHIPE
Cuisine
As in Pastaza, fish and palm heart maytos, guanta, guatusa and danta stew, sancocho, empanadas,
yucca bread, and humitas are the most typical dishes of this region. Chicha made from yucca or banana is
also popular as is Shuar chich
ORELLANA
ESMERALDAS
Gastronomy - The delights of Creole Cuisine
Encococado de pescado (fish cooked with coconut) is very popular both with locals and travelers, alike.
Other popular local dishes include: tapao (a fish- and plantain-based dish); fried plantains, empanadas,
and bolas or bolones de verde (also made from plantains). Rice with beans, served with fried or grilled fish
is also a staple of the Green Province’s legendary cuisine.
MANABI
Cuisine
Made of fish, shrimp, or shellfish, Ceviche is one of Manabí’s most mouth delectable specialties. In
general, all types of seafood are very popular. But what you can find on the table on a daily, both for locals
and tourists, are fish viche, made with peanuts, and sancocho, a loca delicacy made with plantains and
fish. In Puerto Lopéz, spondylus ceviche, a dish prepared from the spondylus shellfish, is also quite
popular.
GUAYAS
Cuisine
The scents of delicious local dishes abound throughout all of Guayas’ towns and villages where traditional
plates: grilled steak or fish with rice and beans, patacones (fried plantains), caldo de manguera (pork tripe
soup), fried rice with seafood, grilled or fried maduro (ripe green plantain), and a variety of seafood stews
are all part of the everyday cuisine.
LOS RIOS
Cuisine
Shrimp, shellfish, and fish ceviches are the cuisine of choice among locals and tourists alike. As in other
parts of the Pacific Coast region, rice and beans, fried plantains, and caldo de manguera (pork tripe soup)
are also local favorites.
EL ORO
Cuisine
Based largely on seafood, the province's cuisine offers a variety of delicacies made with lobster, shellfish,
squid, and mussels. Among the area's most popular dishes are grilled shellfish, shrimp ceviche, rice and
beans, bolón de verde (ripe banana fried and filled with meat and cheese), and the famous tigrillo (a
delectable treat made with banana, egg, and cheese).
CARCHI Cuisine
The traditional food here is made up of potatoes, beans, corn on the cob, pork, guinea-pig, and chicken.
There are several local dishes, the most well-known being the hornado pastuso (roast pork with potato
cakes, beans, and small potatos).
IMBABURA Cuisine
Carne colorada (steak cooked in a natural red colouring) and chicha de jora (local maize-based alcoholic
drink), can be sampled in restaurants throughout Imbabura. Other local dishes include nogadas (walnut-
based sweets), arrope de mora (blackberry syrup), helados de paila (handmade ice cream), and
empanadas de morocho (white-corn pastries).
PICHINCHA
hornado
COTOPAXI Cuisine
Chugchucaras is the region's typical dish. The dish, typically served in gigantic portions, consists of fried
pork, pork rinds, white corn, miniature empenadas(pastries filled with meat and cheese), fried plantain,
corn on the cob, and popcorn. The drinks that traditionally accompanies this delicious dish are chicha
(maize-based alcoholic drink) and beer. Other local specialities are allullas (a kind of biscuit) with fresh
cheese wrapped in a leaf, white-corn porridge, and corn flour porridge with cherries.
TUNGURHUA Cuisine
Llapingachos (potato cakes) served with fried eggs and sausages are typical fare in Ambato. Grilled
guinea pig is also popular in Mocha and Pelileo while Baños is famous for its sugar cane candies.
BOLIVAR Cuisine
Fritada (fried pork), mashed plaintains (known as bollos), sweet hornado (roasted pork), and empanadas
(pastries filled with meat and cheese) are traditional fare in Guaranda.
AZUAY Y CAÑAR Cuisine
Pork rinds, quinua soup, grilled guinea pig with potatoes, grilled trout, buñuelos (sweet pastries), and pork
tripe soup are some of the most typical delicacies found in Azuay. Fanesca is a typical Easter dish and
mote pata ( boiled wheat fried with pork) is popular during Carnival.
LOJA
Cuisine
Loja is famous for its tamales, soup, and fried pork.
GABRIELA IZURIETA .
