Breakfast in Ecuador. Now
whether you're in the coast, in the Amazon in the Andes in the Galapagos,
it's always different. Now that not only reflects the ingredients that are available
in the area, but also the way of life. So in this video I'm going to share with you
my favorite breakfast throughout Ecuador. In Guayaquil, back at El Pez Volador in Guayaquil for breakfast to try the hayaca which is a
traditional breakfast food on the coast. And the filling is I've got some egg, some olives,
some chicken, I've there's some raisin in here okay, so the corn is definitely on the
sweeter side could be made from choclo, but then you definitely get this savory part with chicken. Vegetables. It's an interesting mix. So going to have one of the most epic coastal
breakfasts in Ecuador. This is called bandera, and that means flag and the reason it's called
that is because of exactly how it looks. So we've got this circular mound of rice in the middle
avocado on top. Then on the left, we have guatita in the right hand corner we've got in encebollado
and then at the bottom, we've got some shrimp it's a mild peanutty tastes not sweet, just very earthy. And you've got to
love potatoes from Ecuador. So good. Moving on to the shrimp. It's so good. And then the encebollado. So
you've got albacore tuna so good. The broth here is just super fresh, does not taste like
super fishy. It's just really fresh breakfast. So I'm here at the Cuenca market, 10 de Agosto
or the 10th of August and I am here to have levanta muertos, which means Rise Of The Dead.
There are two reasons that Ecuadorians drink this drink. One is because it's considered to be
Ecuador's natural Viagra. But also they drink it when they're feeling a little bit hungover. Also
called chuchaqui. In this drink, we have borojo which is a fruit that's kind of like tamarind,
but this fruit is so ripe it's almost entering the fermentation process. There is also Malta
a popular drink here that is fermented oats, we have a free range egg which is called criollo
and then we have beet carrot orange juice banana. Oh this is good. It just tastes like I
really good smoothie I would recommend trying it. It's very big. So if you finish
it all I'm sure your hangover will be gone. At the market here in Porto Lopez. Today I'm here
to try perico. So basically it is just scrambled eggs but then also you have tomato onion and some
peppers in it and then it is served with patacones are so good. This isn't really really good.
So I'm not sure if perico is a Ecuadorian breakfast dish because we've only seen
it at this one spot but it is available in Colombia. So it could be that it's a
coastal thing and other places offer it but this is the first time I've seen it and
it's really good, great option for breakfast We're going to have some morocho and then also the
thing to have for breakfast here is actually these tortillas. What makes this special here is that
they cook them in this clay pot or pan and it's called a aiesto these tortillas are actually
not cooked in oil at all. And then they make these by hand and they make them to order we also
have this drink the morocho which is another type of corn drink similar to what you might know
as horchata in Mexico, but here they're going to use corn. You'll have some cinnamon you might
some have some star anise some clove everyone has their own recipe. Oh wow, it's very good. Not
too sweet at all. It's really perfect in this weather. It's just like warm, comforting has like
a spicy kind of flavor. It's really delicious. So I am trying three different kinds wheat
choclo and maiz, which is what we would know as hominy is wheat and it tastes a lot like
toast. When actually if you look closely, you'll see that it has cheese on
the inside fresh salty cheese. It's like a breakfast cheese toast moving on to
choclo, which should be a little bit sweeter. So you can already notice from the beginning,
it has a completely different texture not as crispy you're using corn very, very soft,
similar to what we would know as a pancake. Very sweet, like a sweet corn flavor.
And then finally, the mais. Also not as hard as the wheat but also not as
flabby as the choclo. It's pretty good. I have to say without a doubt the choclo is best. Good morning from Loja, we are starting
things off with breakfast. So you know we're going to have coffee because it's a good
coffee region. And then we're also going to have the tamale Lojano they do things a little bit
differently here. So traditionally in Ecuador, the tamales are made with maiz sabroso which
is a corn starch based flour it can get kind of crumbly, it's cooked in in a achira leaf
which is a flower here at the spot they have three different kinds of tamals you can get
chicken, pork, or also quesillo which is a fresh cheese and what I'm really excited about
is they've actually given us two different kinds of aji so the one with the chicken is actually
tomato based with pepper and culantro and then for the beef we have one that is cilantro,
pepper and then also mani which is peanut hot sauce is very fresh. This
is good, moist very filling get a bit more into chicken this is very hearty and now for the pork a little bit in the aji it's like peanut fresh super
spicy. This is my favorite Trying my first bolon de camaron it looks
so good. Definitely enough for two people we are sharing this this is $5. The coffee
was 50 cents each and when they served it they gave us a little bit extra sauce
and they said it's encocado sauce which is a coconut sauce and she made sure
to tell us that it was only coconut it just feels so good. Really fresh on the shrimp flavor you get
that coconut this plantain is smooth but still not too mashed. Going to put
some of this plantain shrimp onion a little bit of lime I'm gonna get rid of that seed
making a mess here. And some aji. Oh god this even better. These onions so good. The lime juice.
Everything is just off to a really good day. I wanted to come to Angeles which is a very local
spot right on the main square. They have ice cream here we are here for breakfast and they have some
fantastic bread and different kinds of coffee. But I got mote pillo and I first was like oh my god,
there's some kind of crazy cheese in here. But no not at all. So it's mote is hominy and it is mixed
with scrambled eggs and herbs. Very classic dish. It's really good. ok And of course you get
fresh fruit juice. This one is naranjilla it's nice and bright. It's kind of
like orange juice was mixed with melon. Yeah. Something like that. It's great. So we are here at Cafeteria Uno to try one of
the most traditional dishes in Zaruma it's called tigrillo. This is literally a hole in the wall
it's in a corner it just says Cafe so you need to know to go here but they've been here for 40
years they also produce coffee and they have a brand called Cafe del Cerro and it's you can find
it actually in the supermarkets here. I want to show you this tigrillo because I have never
seen anything so large at all. So first off, we're trying that tigrillo it has mashed green
plantain egg, and then also quesillo cheese. So we also have the carne version which has a little bit
of meat and then also it's in a sauce. Oh my god. There's so much cheese in this.
It's amazing. It's like mashed green plantains into like a really good
mash almost like a mashed potato. The second thing I wanted to share is the
bolon de mani. This comes with a little bit of egg if you needed it and some quesillo
cheese which should be fresh and salty. It's like a gigantic peanut butter cookie. This
is good. But that's tigrillo is so amazing. I gotta go eat more of that. In the sandwich of arroz con leche. Now arroz
con leche is a famous dessert here in Ecuador and throughout Latin America, where it's
rice with milk and it also has cinnamon in it a little panela. And then they put
it in like a hamburger bun. Oh yeah, hamburger bun bread is so soft. And then
you get a little bit of sweetness. And so what happened was, we saw that they had a view.
And then we said, Okay, we're just going to run down, check out the fish come back and get this
in that five minutes. She had already sold out. And so we were so disappointed when we asked
her about it. But she said no, no, it's okay. I'm gonna get some more so she brought some
back for us. So sweet. This is so interesting. All right, so I'm here at the market. And
just around the outside there are a number of vendors and I'm having something very
special. It's called ceviche de pinchagua sardine ceviche. This bowl right here is
only $2.50. So in it, we have the sardines, and then we also have ground peanuts, a peanut
sauce. We've got mustard we've got ketchup, lettuce, tomato, and then also they have avocado.
It doesn't taste fishy. It tastes briny and light like the ocean. You can tell that this is fresh.
This is bright, light, fresh. It's so good. We mix it together. Andres just said
it's such an interesting combination to have both types of peanuts, the ketchup, the
mustard and then the sardine flavor as well. Oh, it's good. It's actually I think
one of my favorites ceviches this is ground peanut flavor with the sardine is so good.
Even if you think you don't like sardines. I think you need to try it. These are not sardines from
the cans. They were fresh sardines caught this morning brought in like it's like a taste
of the ocean and the land the peanut so good it's 9am and we are in Otavalo Ecuador. I'm on the
corner of Modesto Jamarillo and Abon Calderon. It is a busy corner and we came for one thing we
are here for catzos. Catzos are white beetle, very common here as a snack. They are fried
in onion and usually garlic, maybe some spices everyone has their own recipe and then they are
served with a bit of tostado which is roasted corn and then a side of aji which is usually
tree tomato aji my favorite in the Sierra. Oh this is good! These are really good. It kind
of has the texture of like a chip or a cheesy it's just crunchy and very flavorful.
So these catzos the white beetle, they are found on the slopes of the mountain
and they arrive September October November depending on when rainy season begins here.
They are considered to be an example of the rise of the dead for Indigenous People in
northern Ecuador. And that is something to be celebrated. Not something to be afraid of,
or sad about. It's also a delicious tradition. The next thing we're having is called churo
different than that deep fried pastry you find in Spain and Latin America, this time we
are actually eating a snail. And it's called churo because it's like a curl like a curl of
a hair. This was $1 you get a very hefty bag of churo. You also get some lime to put it in
and then also some tostado that toasted corn and you can have it with a little bit of aji
it's also in the bag has lots of spring onion, which keeps it fresh. I'm going to put a little
bit of this lime in. Fortunately, Maria gives you tons and see you can see right here that there's
a little bit out so it's actually easier to get really good actually you can just pull them out very light snack it tastes mostly
like the lime and the spring onion we're going to add a little bit of aji to it
because a heat with everything is fantastic So there's one plantain dish that I wanted to
try in Esmeraldas and that's majado which is simply mashed plantain here I can see it's not
simply mashed it's also got some onion in it. We've got some cilantro it looks like it might
have some tomato in it. It's majado con camaron so with shrimp al jugo so that means with a sauce
so it's got this like very deep, rich sauce like a tomato-y broth you can feel the onions have
been sauteed it's just super tasty. Oh yeah We just thought we would stop for a bite and
actually we're having a very big meal the continental comes with scrambled eggs tree tomato
juice. We've got this bun here which is made in the Cuenca style with cheese. We have a tortilla
de choclo which is a corn sweet corn tortilla coffee. We've had some nata which is an Ecuadorian
cream cheese. We have some man har which is like a dulce de leche. We also have the yogurt that
they make here. So this is not just a cafeteria, but they also make their own yogurt their own
cheese. The nata de manjar everything here is made by these people. I am so excited
to have this tortilla. So good. This cheese is just a little bit salty.
So it's like salty sweet. The bread here is also from here. They make it in a woodfire oven. I just put a little bit at the manjar or
the dulce de leche. It's just a little bit sweet caramely I think. This is good. Not too sweet at
all. It's actually very fresh tasting. That nata which is like a creme fraiche
oh it's good. Actually the nata would be really good on the tortilla.
And then for the last little bit of dairy, this yogurt. So in Canada, I usually eat yogurt
with a spoon but in Ecuador, they drink it Oh, that's really good yogurt. Yeah, you need to try it. Oh, this is mango
yogurt. So smooth. Creamy, not too sweet. This is my favorite thing. Just come here for
the yogurt. I'll show you the brands of it. I got a whole thing. I might actually eat
the whole thing. This is amazing yogurt yum. Now we are here to have one of my
favorite breakfast in the entire world. This Ecuadorian breakfast
of encbollado is the best thing I have ever had for breakfast. Encebollado is
basically references an onion soup. There's tons of red onion in here. The best quality
soups will have albacore tuna a rich raw fresh fresh fish good stock It's so so good. So good. Oh my god, the
fish is so tender this stock onion and fresh herbs in it just so fresh. Oh my
god I'm going to eat like encebollado every morning and maybe that bollo because
that bollo it's my new favorite thing. So good. We're here at Mamma Luna in Macas. At Mamma
Luna, they're open for breakfast and they have 12 different kinds of breakfast depending on what
region you're from. I of course chose the Desayuno Amazonico or the Amazon breakfast, and it starts
with a drink from Ecuador it's guayusa it is a tea made out of a leaf that exists here in the
Amazon that is dried and then steeped like a tea. Oh, very light and refreshing.
It's actually really delicious. Andres got that costeno. So it's a tortilla. I
think it has shrimp in it. Lots of patacones, salad which is such a good size and cheese.
This cheese mine has a chuleta of pork, two fried eggs patacones fresh cheese salad.
We've got guayaba juice. And of course, the guayusa all of this for $3.50. Now, to tell you
the truth, I am most excited for this salad, but I'm going to try the pork first. This is really
tender pork. Sometimes when you get a chuleta it's like a pork chop that's just like a really, really
tough this is very tender. Let me try the salad the salad dressing is like with tree tomato
or mustard but also something really sweet. This is such a bargain $3.50 for all of this
food. This is a very good start to Macas. We actually discovered a dish I've never seen
before. It's called picante de pescado and that means spicy fish. It's more like I would say like
a fish salad. So in this we have some atun, some tuna. We've got red onions, some herbs, and then
also some yuca. It's served with rice and then also because we're in Ecuador, you have to have
two starches. It's also served with patacones. It's a warm dish, but also very fresh. That
onion gives it tons of brightness. It's really good. It's got fresh fish in it onion, these fresh
herbs. So instead of a potato salad, you have like this yuca starch. You got the fish with it the
onion. Now the encurtido I'm going to try on its own because the last one I had was really spicy.
And we're on the coast. The coast is spicier. It's spicy not as I said this picante de pescado
I've never seen anywhere else. We've traveled the coast twice, starting in Esmeraldas. And no
one has offered us this dish also at this market if you're not looking for fish, but let me tell
you, you want to try this picante de pescado yum. One of the traditional breakfasts to have in
the northern region of Ecuador is champus and pan or bread. This cost us 60 cents at the market.
Now champus is an interesting drink. We tried to decipher exactly how to make it. Although people
really don't want to give you their secret recipe. However, from what I understand. This is a little
bit like chicha de jora, which is like a fermented corn drink to simplify it. It's almost like a corn
beer. And it also tastes a little bit like Quaker which is the drink that I had with the colada
which is a naranjilla and oat base. It's warm and it comes with this bread and being in
northern Ecuador. It's a little bit chilly right now in the mountains. And so I think
a warm drink is very good for breakfast. Oh, okay. I taste the naranjilla.
And it's a little bit thick, but it also does have like
a bit of a fermented flavor. It's almost a little bit tangy, you feel it
on the back of your tongue. It's really good. I don't love really sweet things. And so this
is actually great. It's just a little bit. I don't want to say it's tart. You do feel that
right here. A little bit of tartness from the naranjilla. It's not sugary, but it feels very
filling. I like it I like it a lot and this bread Oh, it's just good bread. I could definitely
have this for breakfast. This is really good. So this will be my first empanada de verde on the
coast. This one looks so good. It has meat in it. Oh yeah. This is really good. Like ground beef has some onion and some seasoning in it some
pepper some tomato, super rich tasting non greasy at all. Like everything it is always
served with a little bit of pickle to cut the heaviness although I didn't find that was too
heavy at all. So there's some cabbage and carrot. So good and it's such a treat to have house
made aji but this is like the real deal. Not too hot. That was actually really great. Join my Patreon community for more behind the
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