Pollo al Sillao/ Peruvian Soy Chicken

Chinese food is a very important part of Peruvian cuisine and this dish can be found in Peruvian restaurants other than Chinese Restaurants.

Ingredients
2 lbs. of chicken pieces
small handful of green onions with bulbs and tops cut off
1 red bellpepper sliced in thin pieces
1/4 cup soy sauce (sillao)
1 tsp. ginger minced
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup vegetable oil

prep

season the chicken with blackpepper and tbsp. salt and add 3 tbsp. soy sauce
marinade for at least 1 hr. or longer

In a large pot add the oil enough to cover the bottom to fry the chicken  and heat
add the chicken and fry. cover and let cook for at least 15 mins. per side.
When done chicken chicken should have a beautiful dark soy color.
remove the chicken from the pot and set aside. Keep warm in an oven.
In the same pot add the bellpepper, ginger and green onions and cook down for a few mins.
in a little bowl add the cornstarch with a 2 tbsp. of water and mix completely add the rest of the soy sauce and mix together.
Add the soy mixture to the vegetables and let thicken if too thick you could add some more water to thin.
When the sauce is ready pour over the chicken and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Aji de Gallina

Gallina means hen and I imagine at some point hens were used to make this dish.
However, I believe just regular chickens are used.
This dish is served everywhere in Peru and I have found it to be inconsistent from delicious to quite unappetizing.
If cooked properly though it is quite an interesting and delicious dish.

3 breast of chicken boiled and shredded
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1/2 cup of oil
1 cup of evaporated milk
2 small onions cut into quarters
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 small (sandwich size bread like french bread) soaked in water and and then water squeezed out
2 tbsp. walnuts finely chopped
4 tbsp. parmesan grated
3 hard boiled eggs sliced
4 tbsp. aji de amarillo
8 black olives
4 large potatoes boiled (peeled)
and cut into slices about an 1" thick
salt and pepper to taste


1. Heat the oil in a pot and saute the onions, garlic and the aji amarillo.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste
3. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil then add the pan stirring constantly.
4. lower heat and cook for about 5 mins.
5. Add the chicken, walnuts and the parmesan and stir
6. Finally add the milk and stir
7. When it thickens, it is done
8. Serve over the potatoes
9. Garnish with eggs and olives and serve

this dish is classically served with white rice

Chicken Salpicon - recipe

Chicken Salad ( this is a great dish for leftover chicken )

2 breast of chicken boiled and shredded
3 potatoes like yukon gold boiled and cut into bite size pieces
1 1/2 cups of green beans parboiled
1 carrot parboiled
1 small onion julienned
2 tomatoes chopped
1 cup of lettuce preferably green leaf chopped
oil and vinegar dressing ( simple vinegar red or white mixed with some olive oil )
salt and pepper to taste ( sea salt and fresh ground pepper if possible )

note - if the oil and vinegar mixture is too tart a little bit of sugar added rounds out the flavour

1. Chop the green beans and carrots into bite size pieces
2. In a bowl mix the shredded chicken, potatoes, green beans, carrots, tomatoes and onions.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Add the dressing and let it coat all the ingredients

You can make this ahead and keep in refrigerator just before serving mix with the chopped lettuce.

any questions please feel free to contact me :)

Pollo al Ajillo Peruvian - recipe

This of course is the Peruvian version of the Spanish dish

Chicken with Garlic Sauce

3lb. chicken cut into pieces
6 cloves of garlic sliced
1 tbsp. ginger minced
1/2 cup white wine
1 onion cut into strips
to taste - salt, black pepper, parsley (chopped)
oil

1. Season the chicken with salt
2. Place oil in saute pan and heat
3. brown chicken on both sides and remove from pan
4. In the same pan add a little more oil saute the garlic and the ginger until soft and golden.
5. Then add the onion to the pan, cook until translucent
6. Add the white wine to the pan carefully.
7. Now place chicken in the wine/onion mixture
8. cover and cook on low heat for about 20 mins.
9. Add a tbsp. of chopped parsley
10. Cook uncovered until chicken starts browning again. You may want to turn up the end to get a nice brown colour.
11. Sprinkle chopped parsley and serve

You could pair this dish with a Gewurtztraminer which would amplify the flavours of the ginger. Also, you could also use this wine to add to the food.

Aguadito de Pollo - recipe

Soups are a very important part of the Peruvian cuisine and is the first dish of the lunch menu.
There are many kinds of soups from caldos, consome, cremas, chupe etc.
Aguadito I believe is common to all parts of Peru.

This is a very easy and quick version.

recipe - aguadito de pollo

2 1/2 lbs. of chicken cut into pieces
half an onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic smashed
1 tablespoon aji amarillo paste
4 cups of water (boiling)
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup of peas (fresh or canned)
1/4 cup of blended cilantro
1 ear of corn (kernels) or small can
1/2 cup of rice
1/2 red bellpepper cut into strips
2 potatoes cut into halves
tsp. black pepper or to taste
salt to taste
2 tsp. oil

1. Mix together the smashed garlic, onion and aji amarillo with the oil.
2. Add chicken to boiling water and boil for about 5 mins. more.
3. Add the cup of chicken broth
4. Add the peas, rice, corn kernels, bell pepper and potatoes.
5. Add half of the cilantro paste
5. Cook for another 30 mins or so. check for doneness of potatoes
fork should pierce it easily
6. Add rest of the cilantro, blk pepper, salt to taste and serve.

This should serve about 4-5 people.

Note:

In Peru eating soup is a spoon and fork affair. The meats are usually cut into larger chunks and the presention looks great. For me though I prefer cutting the meat into bitesized pieces.
Also since this is a soup and I believe in using ingredients at hand or whatever is fresh you can substitute the vegetables.

this is a really delicious and simple dish and my picky 11 yr. old son loves it.