Carapulcra Peruano

This is one of my most favorite things to eat here. Actually, it's my most favorite "main dish", if Causa is on the menu I will always pick that first. Don't worry I will make a post soon about Causa and what it is as well. 

Carapulcra pronounced Kah-dah-pull-crah is a stew made with mostly dried potatoes and pork, the base for the stew is made from ground peanuts, and ají panca and ají amarillo paste.

Now last time I talked about the peppers and spices here in Perú I had a lot of questions about them so here's a little bit to hold you over until I do a whole post which I am planning to post soon. Ají panca is a red pepper that is grown along the Peruvian coast and used in a lot of food. There is a powder that you can buy that is not hot and a paste as well. Ají amarillo is also a pepper found here in Peru that is used often as well. Both can be found online as well, click on the active links above to find them on amazon.

Making this wasn't too hard but it did take an overnight soak of the potatoes. I toasted them and then soaked them overnight one time before, this time, I toasted them in the morning and soaked them all day before I prepared the dish (So they soaked for 8 hours.) We had a few people over the night that I made this, and one of them was a Peruvian who is studying to be a chef. I told him not to lie to me I was a big girl and it would be ok if he said it wasn't great. I'm an amateur cook so I'm not expecting to win any awards for my food. He, however, finished his whole plate and told me it was good. So that was exciting for me because the first time that I made it, it didn't turn out so well. 

I've put the Gaston Recipe below, and the linked ingredients are for purchasing in the US if you'd like to try making this at home.

Ingredients Needed:

4 cups dried potato (papa secas)

1 kg of pork ribs 

80g peanuts, ground 

25g butter 

1 small red onion, 

chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 

3 cloves 

1 cinnamon stick 

1 pinch ground cumin 

4 tbsp aji panca paste 

2 tbsp aji amarillo paste  

2 liters of pork or chicken broth

salt and pepper pork

Toppings or add-ins:

Top with Salsa Criolla

Fried Yuca and Rice on the side

*chocolate bar - added to the pot of stew. (See tip below at the end of the directions)

Directions:

Pre-Heat your oven to 300 degrees.

Roast dried potatoes in the oven 6 minutes until slightly brown. Put them in a bowl, cover with water and soak overnight.

The next day, cut the pork ribs into pieces of 5 x 5 cm and sprinkle with salt. Put peanuts in a mortar or Batan (Peruvian grinding stone) and shred them into a fine powder. Set aside.

Melt half the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and brown the pork on all sides. Remove and set aside. 

Put the remaining butter in the pan with the onion and garlic and sauté for a few minutes, until the onions soften. Add the cloves, cinnamon, cumin, aji panca and liquefied aji amarillo, and salt and pepper. Sauté over low heat, stirring constantly for 10 minutes, until the mixture thickens and onion and aji are mixed well. Drain the potatoes and throw them in the pan with the pork and mix. 

Pour the broth stir together and cover completely (add a little water if necessary). Bring to a boil and let simmer, uncovered, for 2 or 3 hours until meat is tender. Add the crushed peanuts and continue the cooking 30 more minutes. Taste the stew and correct for salt and pepper if necessary.

Serve over white rice in a bowl toped with salsa criolla, and a stick or two of fried Yuca.

*A special trick or tip is to add in a tiny bit of chocolate at the end. They have these candy bars that are peanuts and chocolate I broke of 4 small quarter size peices and added it to the stew. I've been told by peruvian friends that this is common and adds to the flavor. 

Butifarra’s: Something delicious and Easy!

This exact sandwich isn’t something that I was able to actually find in Gaston’s cookbook, there are very similar sandwiches though in the book. This one is sort of my version, something that I make at home often. My family loves these little sandwiches. Usually, they're made with turkey breast or ham but at home, I make them with chicken breast. They are a common street food item, called Butifarra’s.

They are amazing and so easy for you to make at home as well. Finding Crema de Ají may be a little hard but I’ve linked it here from amazon, you can order some from there if you’d like to try it. The price is a little high, and if you were to eat them without the ají sauce with only mayo it would still be very delicious.

What You Will Need (makes four sandwiches):

4 small individual size ciabatta rolls

1 avocado (sliced)

2 chicken breasts

garnishes:

Salsa Criolla 

Mayo 

Crema de ají

How To Make Them:

Grill up the chicken and season with Lawry’s seasoning salt, or just salt and pepper. Let the chicken sit for a few moments after cooking and then slice it into small thin slices. 

Cut each roll in half, and evenly place an even layer of chicken and then avocado across each roll, then top with the salsa and then the creams. 

Enjoy!

Salsa Criolla - Onion Salad

Red onion lovers you need to try this super simple salad!

This is somewhat a staple salad in most Peruvian dishes.  It's used as a side item with dishes like Tacu Tacu, Carapulcra, Tamals, or putting it on top of sandwiches and salads. My kids will even eat it on its own. I think that my mom said she was going to try to make this salad but add in slices of avocados and tomatoes too. I tried that here and it was amazing.

I'll admit when we first arrived here I wondered why everyone put this salad on everything. I was turned off by it, because onions.  But it's surprisingly delicious, and oddly by its self not as strong as I thought it would be.  

Give it a try on your next sandwich, burger, grilled steak or chicken!

What You Need:

1/2 red onion cut into thin slices across the onion.

1 Ají cut into thin slices, no seeds

1 tbsp of cilantro

The juice of 3 lime

Salt

How to make it:

Let the onions soak in ice water for 5 minutes to chill. Remove from water, drain and place in a bowl. Add the ají, cilantro and lime juice. Serve immediately, and cold.

Gaston says,  It is perfect to accompany fried fishes or meats, rice dishes, stews, and fish. In Northern Perú another version is prepared with chopped radish and ají amarillo in addition to other ingredients, and lasts longer in the fridge.

I also top my cold green salads with this salsa.

Chicha Morada

Chicha Morada is a sweet Peruvian beverage that is made from purple corn by boiling the corn with pineapple, cinnamon, cloves, and sugar. This version, however is non-alcoholic and in our home is a favorite amongst our son Zechariah. 

You can buy this drink in most Peruvian restaurants and markets. It can also be found in supermarkets, but as I mentioned above, this is Zechariah’s favorite drink he does not encourage me to buy it unless it is a specific brand of Gloria Chicha Morada. 

   

I even sent instant Kool-aid style packets home to my mom so she could make this for my nieces and nephew and Zechariah stuck out his tongue and said “ew, no way mom!” He’d prefer I didn’t send them because to him the Kool-aid style packets are gross.

When I decided to make this drink, I was excited. My idea was I can make a huge pitcher each week, and Zechariah would love it! 

I made it and it’s however very easy to prepare but it does take some time to boil. My house though smelled amazing! I actually want to turn the smell into a candle or one of those burning oil things. The sweet smell of the corn and pineapple was great but the spices add a perfect touch, that reminds me of fall back home. Which is kind of weird because there is no purple corn back in Central IL. 

Anyways, I had such high hopes for this juice. I thought it tasted ok not great, and actually out of 5 stars I’d give it only a 2. Zechariah came home from school and asked what the smell was in the house. He actually did a little happy dance when he found out I made him Chicha. But he took about three maybe four sips and told me with a big fake smile that it was great. 

Later that evening when I asked him if he’d like more he told me no. Josh, said it was good and he didn’t find anything wrong with it though. 

I’ll try making it again and I included a recipe below if you’d like to try it at home as well. 

But I'm not sure can you actually find purple sweet corn in The US?

What You Will Need:

• 2 (15-ounce) bags dried purple corn (maíz morado) 
• Rind and core from one large, ripe pineapple 
• 2 Granny Smith apples, quartered
• 1 heaping tablespoon whole cloves
• 4 Cinnamon sticks
• 2 gallons + 1 cup water 
• 250 ML of lime juice
• 1 cup of sugar

How To Make It:

Add purple corn, pineapple, apples, cloves, cinnamon, and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, and cover the pot, after covering the pot reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes covered, uncover and continue simmering for 45 more minutes. 

Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Strain and discard the solids. 

Stir in lime and sugar. Now you can drink it chilled over ice but in a lot of places here they serve it at room temperature and no ice.  

Chilcano Clásico: A Tasty and Refreshing Peruvian Cocktail

This is a very easy drink to make it's cool and refreshing, and perfect for hot summer days. The drink is a favorite amongst Peruvians and it's a source of national pride, they even have a week where they celebrate the Chilcano. 

There are so many recipes out there for this drink, some call for powdered sugar, artificial sugar drops, or simple syrup. In most cases every time I make them this way they are way too sweet, and they never taste like how they do when we get them out around the city. So I never add sugar anymore, and actually after reading Gaston's recipe in his Peru cookbook he doesn't add sugar either.

But I did find that I like my recipe which is a little different from Gaston's recipe. You can find them both below and maybe give them both a try.

Gaston's Recipe:

1 slice of lime 

15 cubes

4 tbsp of Pisco

1 hit of lemon juice

6 drops of bitters

Ginger ale to fill the glass, lemon wedges to serve. 

How to make it:

Put the slice of lime and ice cubes into a tall glass. Add the pisco, lemon juice, and bitters. Fill the glass with ginger ale and serve with a wedge of lemon and a straw.

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My Recipe:

1.5 ounces of Pisco The juice of 

1 small lime (Peruvian limes are about the same size of a key lime but I would use one or two of key limes for this drink.)

1/4 tsp of bitters

Ginger ale to fill the glassLemon wedges to garnish 

How to make it:

Fill a tall (12-16 oz glass) full of ice cubes. Add the Pisco, freshly squeezed lime juice and bitters over the ice, then top it off with the ginger ale. Give it 2-3 gentle swipes with a spoon or stirrer and serve. 

If you live in the US and are trying to find Peruvian Pisco, it might be difficult. I found a few places where you can buy it online if you'd like to order it.

** A side note, I have never ordered from these websites listed below. I am not affiliated with them in anyway. **

Santiago Queirolo Pisco Quebranta -- 

This one is the brand that I often buy here at the tienda on the corner.

Drink Up NY -- 

This website has three different kinds that you can purchase right now. 

Chupe de Habas - Soup of Beans

Chupe, basically meaning soup or stew is a dish that is common across South America but it is most common in the countries of Bolivia, Chile and Peru. Since Chupe is a somewhat generic term used to describe soup or stew you can find it with just about anything in it from meat to veggies to a whole fish, or tripe. But almost always at least here in Peru, there is a potato present in each soup. In the city of Arequipa it is tradition to have a different soup offered each day of the week and Fridays they have a meatless soup. The meatless soup stems from the religious traditions of the country of Peru. 

Different Chupe's are made for certain holidays too, like on Good Friday a soup will be made that doesn't have red meat in it, but instead fish. On Sundays or the mornings after special festival days they will prepare Adobo de Chancho, which is a pork stew served over rice. In Peru, there is various kinds of Chupe among them are: Chupe de Habas (bean soup), Chupe de Olluco (root soup), Chupe de Zapallo (squash soup).

~~Fun Fact: Olluco is a root that looks much like a potato and is commonly found in the Peruvian Andes, it was an important staple food item for the Incas. And they come in many shapes and sizes. ~~

Photo from Peru Delights.

The soup that I made was meatless, it called for only one type of beans but I, however, added white beans, and a bit of quinoa. I served the soup over a small pile of rice and topped it with queso fresco. I thought that it turned out really great but I'm a huge fan of bean soups. But everyone else thought that it was pretty good. I made this one night that we had one of my husbands bosses over for dinner, and he too enjoyed it.

We always eat some type of bread with soup too and this time, Zechariah (my son) picked out Petitpan, he told me "Mom this is my favorite bread, we need it with this soup." It turned out that it worked really well with the soup too. I wish I had gotten a picture but basically it's just a tiny dinner roll much like French petit pains topped with sesame seeds.

If you'd like to try and make it at home you can find the recipe below, and it was very very easy to make.

What You Need:

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 tbsp. tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp. of red pepper paste
• 8 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup lima beans
• 1 cup peas
• 1 cup of white beans
• 3/4 cup of corn/choclo (tender)
• 4 potatos peeled and cut into fourths
• Oregano to taste salt.

Serve with:

• Queso fresco (cubed)
• Rice
• Fried Egg

How To Make It:

- In a large pot saute the onion in the oil until it turns clear, add the tomato sauce and red pepper paste, continue frying for five minutes then add the garlic.

- Add the broth and peas, corn, potatoes, beans, let simmer. 

- When the ingredients are cooked and ready to serve pour it over a small amount of rice in the bottom of a bowl, top with an egg if you'd like, and finally add a few small squares of queso fresco and chopped oregano to the top. Also, don't forget to make sure each person gets a potato wedge in their bowl!

Anticuchos (Beef Heart)

For Easter we had a kind of busy day with church and such so when we got home we were tired. I had plans to make a big elaborate meal but that got pushed to the side in an effort to find rest. When we finally became hungry I made Anticuchos.

Anticuchos are a very popular street food here in Peru. Also Anticuchos are originally from Peru they date back to the "Pre-Columbian" era. Other countries across South America like Chile have picked up the recipe as well. Being that they are a popular street food you can find them almost anywhere, I know of 2-3 carts within a few blocks of our La Victoria Church. They make them over an open flame and some places serve them with a slice of a potato and choclo (a large white corn).

There are also some really great creamy dipping sauces here, I'll do a post later on those because I want to try and perfect my own Crema de Ají. That dipping sauce is one of my favorites and I use it on just about everything from sandwiches and tacu tacu (another peruvian bean dish) to dipping fries in it. But I really love it on Anticuchos.

Anticuchos are beef heart or chicken hearts, but can be made from just regular chicken breast as well. My son Zechariah loves eating the chicken hearts. I bought them by accident on one of our very first days here in Peru and he devoured about 3 skewers in one sitting.

I bet, if your daring enough, you can find beef heart at your local meat market and try out this recipe. I'm not a huge meat eater, and I'm definitely not a fan of organ type meat but beef Anticuchos is one of my favorite foods to eat here, and oddly enough I don't even really think of it being a heart because it's not irony in flavor or tough or full of tendons or viens.

Below you can find the recipe, you can maybe give it a try. I think it's fairly easy to make, but remember Anticuchos are BEST served right off the grill or griddle so you can't make them ahead of time.

Ingredients:

1heart of cow or veal, clean and cut in squares (use chicken or beef if you prefer), you can also use chicken breast.

Marinade:½cup ají panca paste
1tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1tablespoon dried oregano
½ cup vegetable oil
Salt
1 teaspoon cumin

Sides you can serve with it:
2 Russet potatoes, boiled, peeled, and cut in thick slices, you can also fry these up a bit for a little crunch.
2 Giant choclo ears (or regular old corn), boiled, and cut in thick slices, or corn off the cob and griddled up.

Instructions:

1. Before cutting the heart, clean it thoroughly, take out any veins and sinew. Cut in squares of 1 ½ inch by side.
2. In a bowl, combine ají panca paste, garlic, vinegar, oregano, oil, salt, and cumin. Add the heart cubes, and marinate for at least three hours, or over night is ok too.
3. To make - thread three or four heart pieces in bamboo skewers, and grill at medium heat, basting with the marinade, until cooked through (about three minutes each side).
4. Take them off the heat, put on plates, and serve with potatoes, corn, and crema de aji sauce.