Pan con pollo o pan relleno Salvadoreño (Salvadoran Chicken sandwich)

This is the "Crème de la crème" for me, it's right up there with a pupusa.

Pan con pollo or pan relleno is one of my top dishes de El Salvador. It can be served with chompipe (turkey) or chicken and typically made for the holidays or special ocassions. This was the dish I always picked for my mom to make for my birthdays growing up!

What is Pan con pollo?

Pan con pollo is a pan frances which is a french bread roll, stuffed with a cabbage salad knows as 'escabeche,' fresh vegetables and chicken stewed in a tomato base sauce to dress it. The mixture of all these flavors in one bite is so perfect. It can be messey to eat one, but if it doesn't drip it wasn't made right... or at least that's what i believe anyway!

How to make Pan con pollo?

Let me start off by saying that no two panes will taste the same, everyone adds something different. The recipe below is a mixture of my mom's escabeche and my tia Leo's chicken recipe. There is quite a fews steps so I've broken them down into three parts:

1. The chicken and sauce

2. The escabeche and salad

3. The assembly

The Chicken

This chicken recipe and the sauce are so good that you could just make it on it's own for a dinner and serve it with white rice and a salad. If you don't have the time you can also buy a rotisery chicken, shred it and cook it in the sauce. Will it taste exactly the same as this? No. But i understand that sometimes long processes like these may discourage people from trying it so it's okay to find some shortcuts. I've done it before and because the sauce carries so much of the flavor the chicken will get some of that when it stews.

Chicken

• 3 Chicken quarters OR preffered chicken cut. This was roughly 1.5 lbs.

• 2 tbsp Mustard

• 1 tsp Cumin

• 1 tsp Chicken bouillon

• 1/2 tbsp Salsa inglessa (Worcestershire sauce)

• 3 grated Garlic cloves or 1 tsp garlic powder

• Pepper

• Salt to taste

• Vegetable or preffered oil to fry the chicken

The Sauce

• 4 roma tomatoes

• 1/4 green bell pepper

• 2 garlic gloves

• 1/4 white onion

• 1-2 tbsp of relajo (1/2 tbsp Sesame seeds, 1/4 of tsp oregano, 2-3 bay leaves, 2-3 garlic, 4-6 pumpkin seeds, 2-3 cloves, 1 tsp cumin, 2-3 peanuts and black pepper to taste)

• 1 tsp Chicken bouillon

• 1/2 envelope of Sazón - culantro and achiote (Culantro and anatto powder)

• 1 cup water or chicken broth

1. Wash and clean your chicken and pat it dry.

2. In a small container combine the mustard, cumin, chicken bouillon, Salsa inglessa, garlic, pepper and salt for the chicken into a paste.

3. Rub the paste onto the chicken, cover the chicken and let it rest for a minimum of an hour. This time I let it marinate overnight, so if you have time I highly recommend you do this!

4. Place a deep frying pan on medium heat and add the oil. Once it's ready add in the chicken and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes. Flip it once it's browned on one side. Use a pan that will comfortably fit the pieces or do it in batches.

5. While the chicken cooks, let's make the sauce! In a small skillet or comal toast the Relajo on a low to medium heat until the seeds start to turn yellow and set it aside. Please note that some Relajo mixes may contain peanuts, so do not use it if anyone in your family is allergic, instead add the seasonings seperately or buy one that does not contain peanuts. I've listed out approximately how much of each spice to add if you want to make your own mix for this recipe. If you choose to add already powder form there is no need to toast.

6. Wash the vegetables. You can boil or roast the tomatoes, green bell pepper, garlic cloves and white onion before you blend if desired. This time around i just cut the vegetables fresh and threw them into the blender. This is by preference!

7. Once the vegetables are ready add them in a blender along with the toasted Relajo seasoning, 1 tsp of chicken bouillon, 1/2 of a Sazón Culantro and achiote in powder packet, and 1 cup of water. Feel free to use your preferred brand when it comes to the sazón. Blend it until smooth. Add more water if you want a thinner consistency.

8. If the blender does not process the Relajo spices well OR you like more of a thin consistency for your sauce, strain it. Otherwise taste test and adjust as needed, and set to the side.

9. Once your chicken is golden brown on both sides, remove the fat from the pan and add the sauce making sure to submerge the chicken. Cover and let it stew in the sauce for about 30 mins or until it boils on a medium heat. During this time you can start on the second step!

10. You can leave the chicken with the bone in OR shred it and add it back into the sauce after it boils. For serving purposes i find it easier to shred it, although some people like the full piece of chicken.

The escabeche and salad

In El Salvador the escabeche can be done in two ways, similar to the recipe below or where the vegetables below are split and some of them are pickled instead. The escabeche may include green beans, cauliflower, carrots, jalapeños, cabbage, celery etc. In our household majority don't like cauliflower so my mom adjusted the recipe to include only the vegetables we liked and combined them all into one.

Escabeche ingredients:

• Handful of whole green beans

• 1 medium carrot

• 1/2 cabbage

• 1/2 green bell pepper

• 1 stick celery

• 2 tsp butter

• Salt & pepper to taste

• 1 tsp chicken bouillon

• Mayonnaise

• Mustard

1. Wash your vegetables and peel your carrot

2. Place a pot with water, once it boils add in the green beans for about 5 mins or until tender.

3. In the meantime shred 1/2 of the cabbage and cut the carrot, pepper and celary into Julienne strips and place in a container.

4. Once the green beans are tender, split them in half longways and add them into the rest of the mix.

5. Place a saucepan on low to medium heat and add in your butter. Once it's melted add in the mixture of vegetables and sauté until they are translucent and tender.

6. Place the vegetables is a mixing bowl to cool down. Once they are cooled add in mayonnaise and mustard to taste. I typically only add 1/2 tbsp of mustard. Mix well and set to the side or place in the fridge if you won't be serving soon.

Salad

• 1 Lettuce - Escarole or preferred

• 1 tomato

• 1 cucumber

• 2-3 radishes

• Beats

• Berro (can be found as watercrest at a grocery store)

1. Was your veggies

2. Slice the tomato, cucumber and radishes into thin wheels. The beats need to be sliced as well but they are typically bought canned and slices already. If you want to cook it yourself, you will have to boil it and slice it.

3. Letture - separate the lettuce leafs

The Assembly:

You could do this in the order you want but i'll share the most common and if you find a better way, AWESOME! For large gatherings we set all the ingredients for the assembly up as a buffet and let the guest make their pan con pollo their way. I wouldn't recommend making them ahead of time as the bread gets soggy and you want the chicken to be warm. There is the option of making the chicken (fried or baked) separately and the sauce on its own, this way you can prepare the bread with everything else except the chicken and the sauce which is then served on the side.

Ingredients:

• Pan frances rolls or bollilo rolls. If these are hard to find, pick your favorite bread roll that is soft to bite into and won't get soggy too quick.

• Stewed chicken and sauce from step 1

• Escabache and ensalada from step 2

• Mayo and mustard spread to taste (mix mayo and mustard to taste)

1. Grab a roll and cut it open down the middle. You can do it through the top or on the side of the roll. I prefer on the side because it's easier to bite into.

2. Add a layer of the mayo-mustard spread to the bread

3. Place a lettuce leaf first, this will keep the bread from getting too soggy.

4. Add the vegetables from the salad that YOU want and place them on either side of the bread.I don't like lettuce or beats so i skip those two.

5. Add a bit of the escabeche right in the middle and on top of your lettuce

6. Add your chicken and then drizzel it with as much sauce as you desire.

Learn the process and make it your own! I really hope you guys enjoy this recipe and make it for the up coming holidays. As always for the video head over to Instagram or TikTok @flourishwithg and give is a follow. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!