Sancocho is a bowl of stew that you might eat at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Or even if you’re nursing a hangover. Food writer Steve Dolinsky describes his first taste of what can rightly lay claim to being Panama’s national dish.Sancocho is a bowl of stew that you might eat at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Or even if you’re nursing a hangover. Food writer Steve Dolinsky describes his first taste of what can rightly lay claim to being Panama’s national dish.