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Puca picante
Puca picante: Ayacucho's pork and potato stew in a red sauce of ají panca, peanuts and beetroot
Puca means red in Quechua, and Ayacucho's puca picante is as red as a stew gets, thanks to ají panca and a little beetroot. Cubes of pork and potato simmer in a sauce thickened with ground toasted peanuts until creamy, nutty and mildly hot; it is served at Ayacucho's Sunday lunches and during Semana Santa with white rice, a fried pork chunk on top and a sharp salsa criolla. A frequent error is too much beetroot, which makes it earthy and sweet; you only need enough for the colour. Chef's tip: toast the peanuts in a dry pan before grinding them, and the sauce tastes twice as deep.
- Total time
- 75 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
To serve
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Toast 2 ⅞ oz unsalted peanuts in a dry pan over a medium heat, shaking, until golden and fragrant. Cool, then grind finely.
5 minStep 2: Season 1 ⅛ lb pork shoulder with 1 ½ tsp salt. Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a heavy pan over a medium-high heat and brown the pork until golden on all sides.
8 minStep 3: Lower the heat, add 1 red onion and 4 garlic cloves and fry until soft.
6 minStep 4: Stir in 3 tbsp ají panca paste and ½ tsp ground cumin and fry until the paste darkens and the oil goes red.
3 minStep 5: Add 1 ½ lb potatoes, 3 cups pork or chicken stock and the ground peanuts. Cover and simmer gently, stirring now and then so it doesn't catch, until the pork is tender and the potatoes are soft.
35 minStep 6: Stir in 1 cooked beetroot and simmer uncovered until the sauce is thick, creamy and deep red, and the pork is cooked through (well above 160°F).
5 minStep 7: Serve with 1 ⅓ lb cooked white rice and 1 bowl salsa criolla.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 560 kcal
- Protein
- 32 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 29 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does puca picante take?
- About 75 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 55 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of red onion?
- White onion or shallots, same amount (soak raw onion in cold water for 10 minutes to soften it).
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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