What to eat in Ecuador
Culinary guide to Ecuador: encebollado, locro de papa, coastal ceviche, llapingachos, regional street food, and drinks.

[ ] Try encebollado
    The coastal breakfast staple and legendary hangover cure: a rich albacore tuna soup simmered with starchy yuca roots, topped with pickled red onions and fresh cilantro.
[ ] Try locro de papa
    A rich, velvety Andean potato soup simmered with milk, achiote, and fresh local cheese, crowned with ripe avocado slices and a spoonful of table ají.
[ ] Try Ecuadorian ceviche
    Unlike its dry Peruvian cousin, Ecuadorian ceviche is served soup-style in a flavorful citrus broth infused with tomatoes, lime juice, red onions, and cilantro, often starring poached shrimp or black clams.
[ ] Try hornado
    Whole roast pig slow-baked in wood-fired clay ovens after marinating in beer, garlic, and cumin, yielding fork-tender meat and blistered, crispy crackling.
[ ] Try bolón de verde
    A baseball-sized, filling dumpling crafted from mashed green plantains, stuffed with melted highland cheese (de queso) or crispy fried pork bits (de chicharrón).
[ ] Try llapingachos
    Golden, pan-fried potato patties seasoned with achiote, stuffed with savory curd cheese, and crisped on a flat griddle.
[ ] Try encocado
    Fresh fish, river prawns, or crab simmered in a luscious sauce of freshly pressed coconut milk, sweet peppers, garlic, and wild culantro.
[ ] Try seco de chivo
    A deeply spiced goat stew slow-cooked until meltingly tender in a sauce built on beer or fermented corn chicha, tart naranjilla fruit juice, tomatoes, and cumin.
[ ] Try fritada
    Tender pork chunks boiled in brass pans with garlic, cumin, and shallots until the liquid evaporates, then browned in their own rendered lard.
[ ] Try cuy asado
    Traditional Andean guinea pig marinated with garlic, salt, and cumin, then slow-roasted whole on manual wooden spits over charcoal until the skin crisps.
[ ] Try empanada de viento
    A crispy, giant deep-fried pastry puff filled with melty white cheese and a touch of minced onion, famously inflated with trapped hot air ('viento' means wind).
[ ] Try mote pillo
    A beloved specialty of Cuenca: oversized boiled white hominy kernels (mote) scrambled with farm eggs, milk, scallions, achiote butter, and soft farmer's cheese.
[ ] Try corviche
    An oblong, deep-fried street fritter made from grated green plantain and ground peanut dough, packed with a seasoned fish and onion filling.
[ ] Try dulce de higos con queso
    Whole green figs scored, soaked, and slowly simmered in dark spiced cane sugar syrup (panela) with cinnamon, paired with thick slabs of fresh salty highland cheese.
[ ] Try espumilla
    An airy meringue foam whipped from egg whites, sugar, and tart guava pulp, served by street vendors in ice cream cones and decorated with sprinkles and blackberry syrup.
[ ] Try quimbolitos
    Tender, steamed sweet sponge cakes made from cornmeal and wheat flour enriched with butter, raisins, and a touch of sweet liqueur, steamed inside broad achira leaves.
[ ] Try helados de paila
    Centuries-old artisanal sorbet made by spinning pure fruit pulp in a shallow copper basin nestled over a bed of crushed mountain ice and rock salt.
[ ] Drink fresh exotic fruit juices
    Fresh juices made on the spot from indigenous Andean fruits: tangy naranjilla, aromatic banana passionfruit (taxo), creamy guanábana, and tart tree tomatoes.
[ ] Try hot morocho
    A thick, comforting spiced drink made by slow-simmering cracked white morocho corn in rich whole milk with cinnamon, cloves, cane sugar panela, and sweet raisins.
[ ] Try colada morada
    An ancestral purple corn beverage simmered with wild Andean blueberries (mortiño), blackberries, pineapple rinds, sweet spices, and fragrant local herbs.
[ ] Try canelazo
    The iconic highland warming punch concocted with hot cinnamon water, unrefined cane sugar, tart naranjilla citrus juice, and a splash of fiery sugarcane aguardiente.
[ ] Sample Pilsener and Club Premium beer
    Ecuador's two benchmark lagers: the ubiquitous, ultra-crisp Pilsener seen at every family barbecue, and Club Premium, an all-malt pilsner with slightly richer body.

Checklist from Unload: https://unloads.me/c/food-ecuador