Hot dishes from Cuba

Hot and tasteful. Salsa tones can be heard in the kitchen now. Caribbean cooking is influenced by many cultures - African, European, Asian. Chilli, coconut, coriander and ginger are important ingredients. Meat and fish are often marinated with various spices. Desserts on the Cuban table often consist of fresh fruit, usually with enhanced flavour by means of sugar and a splash of rum.

Below you will find recipes for Prawns in coconut, Lime & thyme chicken, Avocado and strawberry salad, Misty Fruit Punch and Coconut ice cream.

Prawns in coconut

serves 4

Ingredients
20 large prawns

Marinade
2 grated or finely chopped garlic cloves
1 tbsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp Dansukker Dark Muscovado Sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

To coat
4 tbsp desiccated coconut
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
2 beaten eggs

To fry
oil

To garnish
lime wedges, flat leaf parsley


Peel the prawns. Leave the tails on. Mix together garlic, lemon juice, muscovado sugar, salt and pepper in a bowl to make a marinade. Add the prawns. Refrigerate for around an hour. Mix the coconut and the chives on a plate. Beat the eggs in a bowl. First dip the prawns in the beaten egg and then turn them in the coconut mixture. Fry them in hot oil for around a minute.

Lime & thyme chicken

serves 4

Ingredients
4 chicken fillets
½ dl sliced spring onions
2 tsp fresh thyme
2 finely chopped or grated garlic cloves
juice of one lime
2 tsp Dansukker Light Syrup
2 tbsp liquid margarine
1 tsp salt
2-3 pinches black pepper


Slice the fillets along one side and open them up. Place them on a greased baking tray. Mix the spring onions, thyme, garlic, lime juice, syrup, margarine, salt and pepper. Spread the mixture onto the chicken. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for a couple of hours, preferably overnight.

Set the oven temperature to 175°C. Cover the baking tray with aluminium foil and bake for 20 minuter. Remove the foil, increase the oven temperature to 250°C and return the baking tray to the oven so that the chicken browns. Why not serve with fried rice and okra.

Avocado and strawberry salad

serves 4-6

Ingredients
1 organic orange, preferably blood orange
½ dl Dansukker Light Syrup
2 avocados
2 bananas
250 g fresh strawberries


Grate a little of the orange peel. Then squeeze the juice from the orange and pour into a serving bowl together with the syrup. Peel, halve and stone the avocados. Cut them into 1 cm-thick slices. Peel and slice the bananas. Rinse and hull the strawberries, then halve them. Place all the fruit in the bowl and carefully combine with the orange juice mixture. Sprinkle with orange zest.

Misty Fruit Punch

many glasses

Ingredients

2 bananas
4 tbsp Dansukker Light Syrup
1 tsp Dansukker Vanilla Sugar with real vanilla
1 pinch grated nutmeg
1 litre mango juice
1 litre pineapple juice
33 cl fruit-flavoured carbonated drink

To garnish
ice cubes
orange slices
lemon balm


Peel and slice the bananas. Blend the bananas, syrup, vanilla sugar and nutmeg in a liquidiser to give a smooth mixture. Mix the mixture with the other ingredients in a large bowl. Add the ice cubes, orange slices and lemon balm. Serve.

Coconut ice cream

serves 8

Ingredients
400 g unsweetened condensed milk
400 g sweetened condensed milk
400 g coconut milk
½ dl Dansukker Brown Sugar
1 tsp Dansukker Vanilla Sugar with real vanilla
1 pinch grated nutmeg

To garnish
desiccated coconut
lime slices
lemon balm


Combine all the milks in a bowl. Mix in the brown sugar, vanilla sugar and nutmeg. Put the bowl in the freezer for 1-2 hours. Take out the bowl of partly frozen mixture and whisk vigorously using an electric whisk until it has almost doubled in volume. Return the ice cream mixture to the freezer and leave for at least 5 hours. Serve balls of ice cream, sprinkled with desiccated coconut. Garnish with lime slices and lemon balm.

More Cuban recipes

You will find more recipes for Cuban dishes here »