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Recipe: Salsa criolla (Peruvian pickled onions)
Salsa criolla (Peruvian pickled onions) is an essential accompaniment to all sorts of dishes, such as tamales, arroz con pollo, chicharrón, seco and papa rellena. Of course you don’t need to make Peruvian food to enjoy salsa criolla. You can pair it up with any rich and/or dish that is on the dry side and could use some a bit of juicy tangy zing. If you have time, prepare the onions several hours before using them. They keep well in the fridge for 3-5 days.
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Recipe: Peruvian-style split peas with ham
Split peas (“arvejitas partidas”) are fairly common legumes in the Peruvian diet. They’re cheap, tasty and very nutritious. Enjoy these Peruvian-style split peas with ham with garlicky rice and a fried egg for a hearty meal. In Perú we mostly use green split peas but feel free to use any kind you can find (i.e. yellow or read). Mum used to cook them with bacon but I used ham in this recipe. You can obviously omit the meat if you’re a vegetarian. If that’s the case, I’d suggest you use smoked salt and/or a pinch of smoked paprika for that smokey flavour you’ll be lacking. Finally, if you don’t have…
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Recipe: Peruvian hot chocolate
In Perú there’s no such thing as Christmas in July. Instead, we eat and drink all the wintery Christmas stuff in the middle of summer. The large Christmas eve dinner of roasted turkey (or suckling pig), applesauce and/or mash, Russian salad, rice, etc. is followed by hot chocolate and panettone. Peruvian hot chocolate is made with blocks of bitter cooking chocolate that are simmered with spices and then mixed with evaporated milk and sugar. It is not a “light” beverage by any stretch of imagination. However, when the weather cools down, our bodies crave hot beverages that provide energy and comfort. Hence, I’ve created a version of Peruvian hot chocolate…
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Recipe: Menestrón (Peruvian minestrone)
Menestrón is the Peruvian version of minestrone soup, brought to the country by Italian migrants. What makes this soup Peruvian is the addition of native ingredients, such as potato and cassava. This is a pesto-based version of minestrone (as opposed to tomato-based). In addition to the traditional basil and Parmesan, this pesto features spinach and feta cheese . There are no rules as to which beans and legumes are included in menestrón. However, butter beans and broad beans are very common ingredients. As for the pasta, tradition calls for penne. I recommend using San Remo pulse pasta for a gluten-free, high protein, high fibre alternative.
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Recipe: My mum’s arroz chaufa (Peruvian fried rice)
Chaufa comes from chao fan, which apparently means “fried rice” in Chinese (not sure if in Mandarin, Cantonese or both). So yeah, arroz chaufa = “fried rice rice”. Arroz chaufa in Perú is very popular (as we have a large Cantonese community) and it comes in many varieties: chicken, pork, chicken + pork, chicken + pork + prawns (a.k.a. “special”) and I’m guessing nowadays also vegetarian/vegan. My mum’s version of arroz chaufa had chicken and egg omelette. Although I didn’t realise this at the time, this was one of my favourite weeknight meals. I would eat an entire serving out of the pot before it even left the kitchen. Mum…
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What is lucuma (and how to pronounce it)
Lucuma (written lúcuma in Spanish) is an Andean fruit that grows in Peru, Ecuador and Chile. It has been around since before the Incas and it’s still widely consumed in the region. Listen to the correct pronunciation in this link. Lucuma is generally the size of an orange or grapefruit, although there are also smaller ones. The fruit has a thin green skin that splits open when ripe. The flesh is yellow-orange, sweet, firm and starchy. It has a few round medium-sized brown seeds. Culinary uses In Peru, the fruit can be found fresh (mainly during summer months), frozen and powdered (also known as “harina de lúcuma). The availability of…
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Recipe: Sudado de pescado (Peruvian steamed fish)
Sudado de pescado can be considered a soup or a stew. I guess it depends on how you serve it: with boiled cassava or with boiled cassava and rice. The verb sudar means “to sweat”… in this context, it means the fish is steamed on top of a bed of onions and tomatoes with a delicious broth. One of the broth ingredients is chicha de jora, a fermented beverage made from malted maize (corn), commonly used in Peruvian cuisine. It is also served as a drink in many towns in the highlands to children and adults, despite its alcoholic content. Back in the day, the fermentation was kickstarted by chewing…
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Recipe: Chupe de camarones (Peruvian prawn chowder)
Soup season is back! I would be hard-pressed to nominate my favourite soup, but chupe de camarones is definitely in the top 5. As it happens with most Peruvian dishes, it all starts with onion, garlic and ají (chilli). Ají panca (dried red Peruvian chilli) paste can be found in certain ethnic markets or you can sub another red chilli paste. It also features Andean staples such as habas (broad beans), papas (potatoes) and choclo (corn). Rice is also an important ingredient, but you can sub cauliflower rice, quinoa, etc.
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Recipe: Peruvian spiced chicken
I would love to say this is a recipe for pollo a la brasa but that would be a terrible lie. First, I did not use charcoal to cook it and second, traditional pollo a la brasa can be made with no other seasoning than salt and pepper. That’s why I’m calling it Peruvian spiced chicken instead. A couple of notes about ingredients: Peruvian dark beer (a.k.a. “malta”) is a bit sweeter than most dark beers here in Australia. I used O’Brien brown ale, which is not only delicious and gluten-free but also similar in taste to Peruvian malta. Feel free to use any dark beer you like. Ají panca…
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Recipe: Palta rellena
Also known as Palta a la reina, palta rellena is a classic Peruvian entrée. I do not know much about its origin but it’s a fairly popular dish, particularly in restaurants offering set menu weekday lunch deals (aka “menú”). My version is heavier on the filling, which means it makes a decent-sized lunch.
