Recipes

Four sauces, four plates

These are the dishes the sauces were built for — the plates you'd actually be handed in Lima. Each one names the sauce it needs.

Ají Amarillo

Ají Amarillo

Salchipapas

25 min

Serves 2

Peru's street-food staple, and the plate the amarillo was built for. The whole thing lives or dies on the double fry.

Ingredients & method

Ingredients

  • 2 large yellow potatoes, cut into thick fries
  • 4 good frankfurters, sliced on the bias
  • Neutral oil, for frying
  • Salt
  • Peruana Creamy Ají Amarillo, to finish

Method

  1. Soak the cut potatoes in cold water for 15 minutes, then dry them completely — wet fries steam instead of crisping.
  2. Fry at 325°F until pale and soft, about 5 minutes. Lift out and rest for 10 minutes.
  3. Sear the sliced sausage in a dry pan until the edges caramelise.
  4. Fry the potatoes a second time at 375°F until deep gold, 2–3 minutes. Salt them the moment they come out.
  5. Pile up the fries, scatter the sausage over, and drizzle the amarillo across the top.
Ají Verde

Ají Verde

Pollo a la Brasa

1 hr + marinade

Serves 4

In Lima the chicken never arrives without the green sauce. This is that pairing, and the reason the verde exists.

Ingredients & method

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, spatchcocked
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • Peruana Creamy Verde, to serve

Method

  1. Whisk the soy, vinegar, garlic, cumin, paprika and oregano together and rub it both under and over the skin.
  2. Marinate at least 4 hours, overnight if you can.
  3. Roast at 425°F, breast up, for 45–55 minutes, until the thigh reads 175°F.
  4. Rest for 10 minutes before carving.
  5. Serve with fries and a bowl of verde for dipping.
Roasted Garlic Rocoto

Roasted Garlic Rocoto

Anticuchos

40 min + marinade

Serves 4

Skewers off the grill, the way they come off a cart in Miraflores. The rocoto does double duty: marinade first, then sauce.

Ingredients & method

Ingredients

  • 1½ lb sirloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 3 tbsp Peruana Roasted Garlic Rocoto, plus more to serve
  • Boiled potatoes, to serve

Method

  1. Combine the vinegar, garlic, cumin, pepper and 3 tbsp of rocoto, then toss the beef through it.
  2. Marinate for 2 hours minimum, overnight if you have it.
  3. Thread onto skewers, 4–5 cubes each, leaving a little space between so they char rather than steam.
  4. Grill over high heat for 2–3 minutes a side, basting with the leftover marinade.
  5. Rest for 5 minutes. Serve with more rocoto and boiled potatoes.
Amazonian Charapa

Amazonian Charapa

Ceviche

25 min

Serves 4

The charapa pepper comes from the Amazon, and it belongs in the leche de tigre. Watch the clock — this is a five-minute cure, not an hour.

Ingredients & method

Ingredients

  • 1 lb firm white fish (corvina, sea bass or halibut), diced
  • 10–12 limes, juiced — about 1 cup
  • 1 red onion, sliced paper-thin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • A handful of cilantro, chopped
  • 1–2 tbsp Peruana Amazonian Charapa
  • Sweet potato and choclo, to serve

Method

  1. Soak the sliced onion in ice water for 10 minutes to take the bite out, then drain it well.
  2. Season the fish with the salt and let it sit for 2 minutes.
  3. Pour over the lime juice and stir in the charapa. Leave it 3–5 minutes and no longer — past that the fish goes chalky.
  4. Fold through the onion and cilantro.
  5. Serve straight away, with sweet potato and corn.
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