Guys help me what is the typical food in Ecuador?

My husband is from Ecuador and that Guatita dish sounds like something my in-laws really like. They also use a lot of seafood, especially shrimp in their dishes. My mother-in-law makes a great shrimp ceviche and it’s soooo easy.

She takes medium shrimp (you can peel before or after cooking) and cooks in slaty water until pink–don’t overcook or they get hard. Reserve some of the water and let cool.

Add a large can of tomato juice and some of the “shrimp water” to make a semi-clear liquid.

Add chopped or thinly sliced red onion, chopped cilantro and some lemon juice to balance sweetness of tomato juice. Add salt to taste. You want kind of a tangy taste–sort of like in a shrimp cocktail, but not that thick cocktail sauce.

It so good and refreshing! (You refrigerate and serve cold in little bowls with spoons.) Oh, and often they serve it with pop corn! It’s great at parties as an appetizer.

Another dish is called “Llapingachos”–they are potato cakes and very popular, too:

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and sliced
salt
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cups Munster cheese, shredded
lard, butter, or oil, or annatto lard or oil .

Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft. Drain and mash. Heat the butter in a skillet and saute the onions until they are very soft. Add the onions to the mashed potatoes, mixing well. Shape the potatoes into 12 balls. Divide the cheese into 12 parts and stuff each of the potato balls with the cheese, flattening them as you do so into cakes or patties about 1 inch thick. Chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. In enough lard, butter, or oil (with or without annatto as you please) to cover the bottom of a skillet, saute the potato cakes until they are golden brown on both sides. The onions may be omitted, or the potato may be mixed with the cheese instead of the cheese being used as a stuffing.

My brother in law is from Ecuador. He favors ceviche, bolas de verde and carne negra.

Ceviche is raw fished marinated in lime juice with onions, parsley and other things. Bolas de verde or something like Green Balls I could never figure out what he made them with, and Carne Negra or Black Meat called for a spice that is sold in Ecuador. It turned ground meat a very dark and unusual color, it tastes quite good actually.