I had no idea what to expect from Surinamese cuisine—I barely knew the country existed, to be honest! I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of food from Suriname. I think it’s one of the most diverse countries I’ve come across during this challenge.
Suriname is located in South America, but it’s also considered part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It has been inhabited since around 3000 BC by various indigenous peoples.
European explorers arrived in the 16th century, and a century later, both the Dutch and English established colonies along the rivers. In 1667, the Dutch gained control of Suriname, which became a significant plantation colony, producing sugar, coffee, cocoa, and cotton.
The plantation economy depended heavily on enslaved Africans. Many escaped into the interior, forming communities that developed their own cultures and societies. The Netherlands abolished slavery in Suriname in 1863, although formerly enslaved people were required to work under a transition system until 1873. After abolition, the Dutch brought indentured laborers mainly from India and the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia), contributing to Suriname’s highly diverse population.
In 1954, Suriname became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1975, after negotiations, it gained full independence. A period of political instability followed, and many people emigrated to the Netherlands. In 1980, a military coup led by Desi Bouterse overthrew the government. The country subsequently experienced military rule, political conflict, and a civil war during the 1980s.
Suriname eventually returned to democratic civilian government, though it is still considered a developing country. Today, its history of Indigenous heritage, Dutch colonialism, slavery, Asian migration, and independence has produced one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse societies in South America.
What Do People Eat in Suriname?
Surinamese cuisine is extremely diverse. Although it’s a South American country, I don’t think most of the food is that similar to that of other countries in the region, except perhaps for the use of local ingredients. There are influences from the Netherlands, Indonesia, India, and China, to name a few.
Some common ingredients include cassava, beans, plantains, and corn. All kinds of meat and seafood are used, and noodles and rice are popular. Strong flavors such as chili peppers, soy sauce, peanut paste, dried or smoked fish, and pickles show up often in Surinamese dishes.
What I Made
- Bami Goreng (Stir-Fried Noodles with Chicken)
- Bruine Bonen met Rijst (Brown Beans with Rice)
- Saoto Soep (Chicken Soup)
- Pom (Chicken and Root Vegetable Casserole)
Scroll down to read about other popular Surinamese dishes I didn’t make!
Bami Goreng (Stir-Fried Noodles with Chicken)
This is a quick noodle stir-fry dish, made either with egg noodles or spaghetti. It combines flavors from Chinese and Indonesian cooking, so it’s a good example of how different cuisines come together in Suriname.
First, I started cooking the pasta in chicken stock. Egg noodles are more traditional, but I used spaghetti, which is also pretty common. Once it was cooked through, I drained it and tossed it with oil, soy sauce, and kecap manis.
Meanwhile, I stir-fried onion in my wok for a minute or so, before adding garlic. I stirred in pepper, Chinese five spice, shrimp paste, and ginger, and cooked for another couple of minutes.
I added sliced chicken breast and seasoned with salt. Then, I stirred in tomato paste. After another minute or so, I added soy sauce, kecap manis, and a little water, and simmered briefly.
I added the cooked spaghetti and tossed it with the chicken so that everything was well combined.
I garnished the dish with celery leaves before serving. This seemed weird to me, but it looks to be a popular ingredient in Suriname!
This tasted pretty good. To me, it was a very unique combination of flavors, but they worked well together.
The recipe I used is from By Andrea Janssen.
Bruine Bonen met Rijst (Brown Beans with Rice)
This is another simple dish, but I thought it sounded really good and, as a bonus, relatively healthy. It’s just beans and rice, usually made with Dutch brown beans, but I used pinto beans instead.
I started by sautéing bacon, then added onion and garlic. After a few minutes, I added tomato, and when that softened, I stirred in cooked pinto beans, water, tomato sauce, ginger, pepper, chicken Better Than Bouillon, and a bay leaf. I let everything simmer for a little while before adding salt, pepper, and celery leaves. A small amount of sugar was also suggested here, but I skipped it.
I used my rice cooker for the rice, so I already had it ready when the beans were done. I served the beans on top of the rice, and they were delicious! This was a really good dish, and very simple to make if you use canned beans.
This recipe is from The Dutch Table.
Saoto Soep (Chicken Soup)
Many countries have some version of chicken noodle soup; here is something similar that you’ll find in Suriname. It consists of a flavorful broth with chicken, boiled eggs, fried rice vermicelli, and fried potato sticks, as well as a few fresh toppings such as bean sprouts and celery leaves.
I began by making the stock. This consisted of bone-in chicken thighs, lemongrass, galangal, ginger, allspice, celery leaves, onions, garlic, chicken Better Than Bouillon, white pepper, and a habanero, all simmered together for a couple of hours. Once done, I strained out all the solids, reserving just the stock and the chicken. I shredded the chicken and set it aside.
Meanwhile, I also sliced some potatoes into strips and roasted them. Usually, they would be fried, but I was trying to be healthy. I attempted to pan-fry some rice vermicelli but it didn’t work very well. I guess there must be different types of rice vermicelli, and I had the wrong kind.
Next, I made the ketjap sambal, which is a spicy sauce served with the soup. This was just sweet soy sauce combined with minced garlic and habanero.
To serve, I added chicken, a hard-boiled egg, bean sprouts, roasted potatoes, and my pan-fried rice vermicelli to a bowl. I poured hot stock over it and garnished with the sambal and parsley. I was meant to use celery leaves, but I’d run out by this point. Although I’d tried to choose the celery with the most leaves at the grocery store, there still weren’t a lot.
I thought the combination of flavors was interesting here. I’m not sure about the parsley, and I don’t think I’d have liked it better if I’d used the celery leaves. I think I’d also have preferred it with regular boiled noodles in the soup, rather than just the fried ones on top. I will probably try this again one day and change a few things.
The recipe I used is from Soul Food.
Pom (Chicken and Root Vegetable Casserole)
Pom is made with layers of pomtayer, a root vegetable similar to taro, with a filling of chicken and/or cured beef. It’s considered Suriname’s national dish. Since I don’t have access to pomtayer, I used taro. The recipe I used included cured beef, but I left it out and used extra chicken.
First, I coated chopped chicken thighs in a mixture of allspice, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt. Then, I browned the chicken in oil and transferred it to a bowl for the moment.
I added butter to the pan and sautéed diced onion for a few minutes. I added garlic, followed by tomato, and after a few more minutes, I stirred in the browned chicken. I poured in chicken stock and simmered for around 10 minutes.
Next, I added ketchup, sugar, and more chicken stock, and simmered for a further 10 minutes. I removed the chicken and set it aside, leaving the liquid and most of the vegetables behind.
I grated the taro and combined it with lemon juice, orange juice, sweet relish, and mustard. The sweet relish and mustard were a substitute for piccalilli, an English mustard pickle that I couldn’t easily find. I also added allspice, sugar, ketchup, salt, pepper, and some chicken stock, along with a ladle of the vegetable mixture left in the pan.
I greased a baking dish and added a layer of the taro, followed by layer of chicken. I added another layer of taro and one of chicken, before finishing with taro on top. I added a ladle of the vegetable mixture and put the dish in the oven, where it cooked for over an hour.
I let the pom rest for a while after removing from the oven, then served it with rice on the side. It’s also common to use the pom as a sandwich filling, but I didn’t try that.
This tasted…interesting. The overall flavor was sweet, tangy, and savory, in that order. These aren’t ingredients I’ve used together before, so I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting. I’m not sure I like this enough to make it again. However, I don’t know how close my mustard/relish combo came to replicating the picallili flavor, so maybe I’d try it at least once more if I got some picallili.
The recipe I used here is from Soul Food.
Other Popular Surinamese Dishes
- Moksi alesi – one-pot rice dish with beans or peas, meat, and salted fish. There are many variations.
- Pepre watra – a spicy soup, usually made with fish and flavored with tomatoes, onions, celery, and Madame Jeannette peppers.
- Pastei – a chicken pie made with shredded chicken, mixed vegetables, and pickles, with a flaky pastry crust.
Final Thoughts
This was a decent week. I wish I’d found time to make more, because I think there are a lot of other interesting dishes in Surinamese cuisine. From what I made, I enjoyed the bruine bonen met rijst the most.
Next time, I will be cooking food from Sweden.