Colombian Hogao – Condiment

My wife Sarah Eliana is originally from Colombia, and from time to time she gets a craving for some recipes from her childhood.

One of them is Hogao (pronounced Oh-gow). It is a diced salad that is almost “salsa like” and is used as a garnish for fish, poultry, meat and even soup… yumm.

One favorite use is as a topping for fried plantains, which are a staple in Latin America, but not on the radar in Israel.

Recently we discovered that there is a chain of small grocery stores called “La Tienda” aimed at the small Latin American immigrant community here. They even sell plantains!

Hogao is even great added to soups like this chicken lentil soup

Ingredients

• 4 medium tomatoes diced into small cubes
• 1 medium white onion diced into small cubes
• 1 cup chopped green scallions
• 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp Galilee Green Olive Oil (GGOO)
• 1 pinch each of cumin, salt, pepper, paprika (to taste)

Directions:

1. Heat the GGOO in a large skillet on medium heat, and add the diced onions and chopped scallions to the pan.
2. Add spices to the pan and cook on medium heat for 4-5 minutes and stir often until the white onions turn transparent.
3. Add the diced tomatoes and cook for another few minutes until the vegetables are tender
4. Add the garlic and more spices to taste and leave for another two minutes on the heat.
5. Let cool and use as a garnish for your favorite dish!

Hogao is the base for many Colombian dishes. It is usually added to soups, patacones, emanadas and garnish for main dishes like fish, chicken or beef.

Personally I like adding some hot paprika or cayenne to make it a bit more Israeli!

Everything tastes better with
Galilee Green Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Get yours now!