This might be the most unusual locro we’ve encountered to date in our exploration of, arguably, Latin America’s most widespread and varied dish. No potatoes, no corn, the main starch is rice. And this is the first to use chicken as the protein. Were I to encounter it without it being named, I’d have just thought it was a chicken and rice soup of some sort. But, hailing from the Santa Cruz region of Bolivia, we have today’s entry, the Locro Camba. The latter word is from the Guarani language (where it is rendered as kambae), and refers to the indigenous population of the north and eastern jungle lowlands of Bolivia, and more or less translates to “people of the land of trees”.

Our ingredients: Traditionally a whole chicken cut into ten or so pieces, since I was making this for just the two of us, I went with just some chicken legs – my favorite part anyway; a half cup of rice, a plantain, a yuca root, a green bell pepper, an onion, some stalks of celery, some green onions, and two teaspoons each of salt, pepper, and cumin (you may want to adjust this, depending on how seasoned your chicken stock is – if it’s already fairly salted/peppered, cut those back – you can always add more later). Off to the side, a pot of chicken stock, and also just some plain flour in a bowl.

Dredge the chicken in the flour and then lightly brown it in a little oil.

While they’re browning, chop your onion, bell pepper, and celery.

Add to the pot and continue cooking until the vegetables start to soften.

Peel and dice the yuca root, peel and slice the plantain.

Add those to the pot along with the seasonings.

Top with the chicken stock, bring to a simmer, cover and let simmer for about 40 minutes.

It should look more or less like this. It’s interesting how the starch from the flour on the chicken, the yuca root, and plantain, give such a richly textured broth.

Add the rice, mix through, cover again, and continue simmering for about 20 minutes more.

It should look a bit like this. Mixed messages on various recipes for this dish. Some people make it very stew-like, like this, others go more in the soup direction and probably would have about 50% more stock, or even more. We like our stews. Plus it feels more locro-like.

Finish by adding in the chopped green onions and adjusting seasoning if need be – much of it will depend on the seasoning of your chicken stock.

And, serve!

It’s a really tasty bowl of chicken and rice. We liked the hint of sweetness from the plantains, the texture of the cubes of yuca. As I noted above, it’s not something I’d identify on sight or taste as a locro, because it’s missing pretty much any element that the others (to date) have had in common (potatoes and legumes being the primary connection I think of). But who am I to dictate what’s called a locro or not?