Travelling in Ecuador as a Vegan

As a vegan who loves travelling, you've probably heard that it's impossible to do it if you want to stay healthy. Well, I'm here to change that view and give you some tips for travelling as a vegan in Ecuador.

When I went to Ecuador, I was doubtful about whether I would manage to stay vegan. I had been vegan for a year, and while it was rather easy in the Netherlands, I always thought that I would never be able to keep being vegan while abroad. Nevertheless, I did it with the help of some tips/tricks.

1. Cook yourself
The easiest and best way (if you can use a kitchen) is cooking yourself. There are so many delicious recipes that contain some meat, but it's easy to substitute this meat for beans. Check out the arepas recipe on my page for example. Arepas are totally vegan, and if you combine them with vegetables and beans, very nutritious as well. The plantain recipe is also a very easy recipe for vegans which can be combined with all kinds of things. Basically, you can cook anything you were used to cooking at home as well, just check the ingredients.

2. Eating out? Ask for something specific.
This might sound strange, but it works better than asking "do you have something vegan?" or "can I have this without meat?". These questions often lead to misunderstandings, or even more questions. If you ask for rice with salad, or rice with beans or rice with beans and avocado, you will get it. Of course, in bigger or more international restaurants you might get away with asking for a dish without meat, but if you're at a bus station, or a smaller town or just local restaurants, ask for a specific thing.

3. Look for vegan restaurants
Nowadays many places have some vegan restaurants, or restaurants with vegan options. Especially in the bigger and more touristic places in Ecuador (Cuenca, Quito, Otavalo, Banos, at the coast) you might have a chance of finding vegan things. For a start, in Tena, where I stayed for 3 months, is a great vegan restaurant next to Cafe Tortuga (which also has some vegan options). It is owned by a wonderful cheff and she makes just great dishes! In Baños there is a restaurant called Healthy Food which you can't find on Google Maps, but it is near Ponche Suizo and they have many vegetarian and Vegan options. Also in Baños is Zumo, a great restaurant at which they offer all kinds of dishes, also vegan, and if you ask they might even be able to make some adjustments to the non vegan dishes. But since Ecuador is a popular travel destination, you can find many options nowadays at more international restaurants.

Food at Zumo Vegan Streetfood

Hopefully, this can encourage you and aid you in your vegan travels! Also in the rest of South America! Let me know if you have any more recommendations :)

Cheers,
Hannah

3584 reads

Content categories

Check all content related to:

Travel & Relax

Ecuador

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being for People

Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Related content or attachment:

Vegan Arepas

Arepas are corn pancakes/bread that can be eaten in all kinds of ways. If I understood correctly, arepas are mostly eaten like a kind of sandwich in Colombia (so cut open the arepa and put stuffing inside), while in Ecuador I mostly got it as a kind of thick pancake with other things on top.

Since I am vegan I try to find food that fills me up and gets me through a day of walking and sightseeing. This arepas recipe is perfect for this; it is super easy, very filling, healthy and most importantly super delicious. Of course, you can adjust the recipe to your liking, but here is the recipe the way I like it:

Ingredients for one/two people:

Arepas:

1 cup arepa flour (in the Netherlands I can only find P.A.N. but other brands are masarepa and harina blanca. Just look for 'pre-cooked corn flour' and if you're in a Spanish speaking country just say 'harina para arepas?' which means 'flour for arepas?' and they will help you.
1 1/4 cup warm-hot water
Pinch of salt
One Tbsp vegetable oil (sunflower)
Optional: other ingredients to add to the bread (I often add garlic or onion (small pieces) or paprika powder)

On the side:

1 can brown beans or kidney beans (400gr)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can of corn
1 onion cut into small pieces
3 cloves of garlic cut into small pieces
2 diced tomatoes (optional)
1 avocado (optional)
One tablespoon paprika powder
Chili (optional)
Salt (optional)
Oil

1. Cut the ingredients that you want to mix with the arepa flour into small pieces.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the arepas.
3. Knead until you get a ball of dough.
4. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes.

1. Cook the onions in vegetable oil for about 3-5 minutes
2. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute
3. Now add the can of beans, corn and can of tomatoes (optional: chili & salt)
4. Turn to low heat and let it simmer

5. Now shape the arepa dough to 1cm thick pancakes. You can choose the size depending on what you prefer.
6. Bake the arepa in a good non-stick pan with enough oil and turn over when the bottom is golden-brown (you can also semi-fry them by adding a lot of oil and adding the arepa when the oil is hot)
7. Put the arepa on a plate, add the bean mix and add some fresh avocado and tomato pieces

ENJOY! :)

Ready In: 30 min.

Ingredients:

Arepa flour
Warm-hot water
Brown-/kidney beans
Can of corn
Can of diced tomatoes
2 fresh tomatoes (optional)
Avocado (optional)
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
Salt
Vegetable oil (preferably sunflower)

Green plantain breakfast/lunch/dinner

Plantains, or cooking bananas/green bananas, are everywhere in Ecuador! They can be recognised by their big size and if unripe, their green colour. The bananas are different from the 'normal' bananas you usually find in the supermarket. They have a higher amount of starch and less sugar and if I am correct, also contain vitamin B6, vitamin C and much potassium and sodium. When unripe, they are quite tasteless but when yellow, they become more sweet. For this recipe, we will use the unripe plantain which is also used for patacones, bolon de verde, empanadas de verde and chifles, dishes you can find throughout Ecuador. The recipe I will describe is very simple and can be made for breakfast (as an alternative for scrambled eggs for example) or for lunch/dinner in combination with veggies.

Ingredients (2p, lunch):

Plantain dish:
- 2 green plantains
- 1 onion
- 2 or 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp paprika powder (optional)
- vegetable oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- water

On the side:
- 1 avocado
- 2 tomatoes
- kidney/brown beans

1. Put enough water to boil for boiling the plantain.
2. To prepare the plantain you first need to rid it of it's peel. You can do this by cutting the corners down, and then peel of the rest of the peel. Or follow this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5XW4iRSMcI
3. Cut the plantain in 5 pieces and add to the boiling water. Let it boil for 30 minutes, or until you can quite easily put a fork in it.
4. In the mean time, cut the tomatoes into small pieces and cut the avocado into slices. Also cut the onion and the garlic into small pieces.
5. Bake the beans in a frying pan.
6. When the plantains are cooked, put them in a bowl and crush them with a fork until you only have small pieces (0.5-1 cm)
7. Heat up oil in a frying pan, when hot add the onion and bake for 5 minutes, then add the garlic for 1 minute and then add plantain, the cumin and paprika powder and bake until the plantain is golden-brown.
8. Add salt & peper to taste.
9. Put everything together on a plate and enjoy! :D

You can basically mix this plantain dish (without the side ingredients) with everything. You can add it to soup, or in wraps, or well just almost anything! :)

Ready In: 45 min.

Ingredients: