Amazonian Cuisine in Ecuador - Traditional Delicacies of the Jungle

Each region has its own gastronomic tradition, their own ways of preparing food and specific cuisine.

In Ecuador’s Amazonic region the food is made from the products of the jungle.

They are the result of the work of indigenous men and women, earned from hunting, fishing and working the land.

The popular dishes consumed are maito de tilapia or carachama,

The fish is wrapped in leaves that are tied and then cooked over fire or coal.

Chonta or cassava chicha, together with wayusa, are the drinks that accompany the variety of delicious foods of the region.

Among the many rarities, distinctive for the zone, you can taste the giant ants, which are eaten alive.

There are also the chonta kurus or palm grubs, which are beetle larvae with delicious coconut flavor.

These larvae are fried in its own fat or made into maito.

The dishes are full of jungle vegetables and fruits, exotic to the eye but delicious for the palatal.

Definitely the Ecuadorian Amazon has its charms and surprises in the food.

Everyone is invited to visit it and to enjoy its craziest recipes and great taste!

Maitos or Dishes Cooked Inside Leaves

One of the places you need to visit is the town of Archidona and its Plazoleta de Comidas Típicas or Traditional Food Course in the center of the town.

It can be found right next to the Town Hall, at the main road.

The cooking of food in banana, bijao or achira leaf, isn’t specific to one area of Ecuador.

However, there is a special dish cooked inside the leaves that causes sighs: maito de tilapia.

Tilapia is a warm water fish and therefore does well in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Its white meat is cleaned with lemon and seasoned with salt, garlic and onion.

Then it is wrapped in bijao leaves and grilled slowly until it has cooked in its own juices.

When it is finished the diner receives the dish with foil of bijao, ready to be unwrapped.

Inside the leaves you will find a perfectly spiced fish with firm white flesh that melts in your mouth with every bite.

It is a delicious and healthy dish, accompanied with boiled or fried yucca and salad.

Of course a tasty plate of hot sauce, or ají, can never miss from the table.

To drink, maito de tilapia is best accompanied with cold wayusa, a beverage from a plant that bears the same name, which grows in eastern Ecuador.

Besides being tasty, this drink is a symbol of the Amazonian culture, flavors and natural wealth.

Maitos Mama Eliza

Maitos Mama Eliza is one of the establishments that can be found at the Plazoleta.

It has a long history and the food they cook is exquisite.

There are many things in Ecuador that I love, and one of them, besides the food, is the people and how loving and friendly they are.

Years ago I was invited by Archidona’s former mayor’s wife to visit Maitos Mama Eliza.

She told me that it had the best traditional food in Archidona and especially the best chonta kurus you could find.

It was the first time I ever ate chonta kurus and I must admit, it was not love at first bite.

But I did fall in love with their maito de tilapia or traditional fish dish.

The restaurant is family owned and Mama Eliza is the matriarch, she is a charming kichwa lady who has a magical touch when it comes to food.

Everything is cooked with love by the extensive family and served by family members also.

They are sure to put the secret ingredient, love, into your plate to make it taste extra special.

Remember to try the maito de tilapia with wayusa.

And if you are feeling adventurous, chonta kuru kebabs or pinchos.

Chuntakurus in Tena, Ecuador

A very popular, and traditional, food course here in the Ecuadorian Amazon is Chuntakuru. 

A lot of people all around from Ecuador come here to eat it and it is considered very delicious. 

I have tried it out also and I must admit, it tastes good, a little coco nutty and greasy, but very good.

This is the Kichwa woman who cooked the first chuntakurus I ever ate.

The only problem is that chuntakuros are actually huge white worms that live in the chonta palm tree.

They can be barbequed on wooden sticks, prepared in Maito (wrapped in local leaves and baked in their own juices) or eaten alive.

This is her daughter at the restaurant kichen.

But the trick is that chonta is extremely hard tree and the worms have huge jaws and they can bite really hard.

So, if you are not careful, you can end up with a tongue piercing instead of enjoying a delicious meal.

This is where the chuntakurus were prepared, inside leaves on hot coals.

For locals, the times when chuntakuros can be found is very important.

The worms were before one of their main protein sources, just like a really big flying ant called ukuy in Kichwa.

My aspiration has never been eating worms of any kind.

Chuntakurus, alive and doing well. Eating the chontapalm, and crawling around, just like they love to do.

I did eat ants at school because the boys would eat them and I didn't want to look like a sissy.

But worms weren't definitively something I ever wanted eat in my life.

I was well as long as we were working in a different part of the Ecuador.

The picture is a bit blurry but I wanted to show how big they actually are.

But when we decided to move to Tena, I starts to prepare myself mentally to all the foods that were waiting for me.

I have eaten deer, armadillo, porcupine, several types of roedents they have here, different sort of fish, insanely spicy chili peppers that make me want to die or drink a river, white cacao beans (that I actually recommend), and some very strange fruits. 

This is maito de chontacuro, all cooked and prepared. Just look at those jaws!

I have also eaten tree peanuts (they grow in a tree, they are bigger than a peanut and they taste just like peanuts), regular peanuts boiled and cooked soft, and chonta palm's fruit (very good also).

I have drunk traditional drinks made by chewing the mash of different fruits and tubers and then spitting it to dirty river water and stirring it with even dirtier hands called chicha or aswa.

My personal favorite is sara aswa, or corn chicha.

This is me, trying to be brave enough to put the worm in my mouth.

I'm still waiting to try boa, caiman and monkey meat.

And at one point I just knew it was the time to eat chuntakurus.

Because in a Kichwa village you cannot refuse what you have been offered.

Chewing the worm, and, honestly, trying very hard not to puke it.

You say thank you, you eat and drink everything you have been given.

If there are extra worms or ants in the food, like my dad says, it's just protein.

I have made my peace with chuntakurus, we are not friends, their consistency is too wormlike for me.

My little nephew wanted to taste chuntakurus and my niece can't just believe how disgusting they are.

But they do taste good and I can understand why people love to eat them.

If you are ever looking for extreme food and eating experiences, I recommend coming to Tena in Ecuador and trying out pinchos de chuntakuru or maito de chuntakuru.

He was a HUGE Fear Factor fan. And he really wanted to tell all his friends about how he ate worms when he visited his aunt and cousin in Ecuador. So, he actually ate them. My niece didn't want to ANYTHING to do with them.

I will not explain you how to prepare them because I’m sure you will not be able to buy them around.

And probably wouldn’t want to prepare them even if you could.

But if you come to Ecuador, I am sure to let you know the best place to try them out.

He's trying to find the words to describe how the worms tasted.