Hogao is one of the most traditional Colombian seasoning sauces. We use it as a base for many typical Colombian dishes or just as a dipping sauce for Pátacones, Platanitos and Yuca frita or just as a topping for arepas. I keep it refrigerated for up to 1 week. In Colombia you will find different versions of this sauce. I prepare this hogao the way my grandmother taught me as indicated in this recipe.
INGREDIENTS
(MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped scallions
2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the tomatoes, scallions, garlic, ground cumin and cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring until softened.
2. Reduce the heat to low, add the salt and , cook for 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally until the sauce has thickened. Check and adjust the seasoning.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I can't wait to make this! It looks & sounds fabulous.
I really appreciate all the Columbian recipes you share on this blog.
Thanks for visiting me.. & am i glad to be in your blog!! u have a great place here with some traditional recipes. I have subscribed to your post feed.
This sauce is very very similar to the basic curry sauce we make in India, same spices & done in the same was!! what a wonderful color!
This tomato sauce sounds delicious with onions and cumin!
Looks great. Will be making soon.
I love hogao…it is my favorite Colombian sauce. I made it and serve it over arepa and patacones.
this turned out delicous and perfect, my Colombian husband thanks you! I have made several of your site’s recipes and all have turned out delicious, thank you for this great resource
I have found all my favorite foods on your site! I can’t thank you enough for posting these recipes. They are so easy to follow and I love the fact that you post pictures! That way I know what it is supposed to look like and I can pick up some garnishing tips as well. THANK YOU!
I beg my mom to write down her Colombian recipes, but with no luck so far. I am glad I found your site!!
I am so glad to have found this blog! I have been married to a Colombian for 44 years. I am going to make your hogao and then bistec a la criolla~
My Columbian friends make a …I’m going to call it a dip or sauce…it’s green and served with yuca, rice and everything. Do you have any knowledge of this dish?
Sheila- maybe aji or chimichurri.
Does this recipe work with canned tomatoes as well?
It really works
I couldn’t even remember what hogao was supposed to taste like, but after one taste it came back to me. I’m making sobrebarriga (what, no recipe here???) two days from now and we’ll see how this stuff works for real! If the sobrebarriga works, that is.
I made sobrebarriga to go with it, following Doris Lopez on youtube:
youtube.com/watch?v=swlneSQ0qVM
It came out pretty nicely considering I didn’t use fresh spices and did use brisket rather than flank steak. Flank steak is way too expensive to be simmered for three hours (what you need to do if you don’t have a pressure cooker). Pero seria poca cosa sin hogao!
I live in El Quindio Colombia it was time I made this side dish, I did ad bits of fresh carrots 1/2 cup 1/2 green pepper, I enjoy more using yellow midden onion chopped, 5 midden garlic heads chopped, the rest normal, well almost I did spice it up with hot red pepper powder, man this side came out better then others I’ve tasted here in almost 5 years, ENJOY!
can you make big batches and freeze? I have a garden and would love to make some using ur garden ingredients to can or freeze to use in the winter. Thank you so much for this great resource. My family is from Colombia but I am vegan but having these recipes will help me adapt (some) of these dishes for myself to honor my heritage!
looking for a arepas filling recipe.it had capers garlic parsley . dont no what was in it iif anyone has a filling for arepas without meat or cheese. it was so so good.
it was served as an appetizer.
I love colombian Mantecadas but I can’t find the recipe in the web site. Could you post the recipe?
Green sauce? In Venezuela we call it guasacaca. In PR, we make sofrito, which includes garlic, onions, bell peppers, cilantro, culantro, parsley, is the base of practically everything we eat, from soups to stews, and is also used as a marinade or adobo. I am doing the pork risotto today, while braving our latest storm (yes, I live in NYC . . . ).
I really would like to thank you for the recipes. My mother in law is the Colombian cook but she never gives me measurements and since I am not Colombian a lot of these recipes are foreign to me. I’m so glad your site is here to guide me. I enjoy cooking for my husband and especially enjoy when he tells me that the food tastes better than what his own mother makes. You are an excellent chef and my husband thanks you and your family for sharing the recipes of his childhood.