Salchipapa con Salsa Huancaína

Salchipapa con Salsa Huancaína

Recipes with Salchipapa

Huancaína sauce belongs to Peruvian cooking the way hollandaise belongs to French: a regional specialty that spread everywhere. Blended from ají amarillo, queso fresco, evaporated milk, and crackers, it is thick, faintly spicy, and fatty in a way that differs from mayonnaise. Over salchipapa it replaces all three standard sauces with one.

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

15 min

Servings

2

Difficulty

Medium

Ingredients

  • 4 frankfurter sausages (salchichas)
  • 500g starchy potatoes
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • Salt
  • For huancaína sauce: 3 ají amarillo peppers (fresh or from jar), 200g queso fresco (or mild feta), 120ml evaporated milk, 6 cream crackers, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 garlic clove, salt

Steps

1

Make the huancaína sauce: if using fresh ají amarillo, remove seeds and veins under running water (this controls heat). Blend the peppers, queso fresco, evaporated milk, crackers, oil, and garlic together until completely smooth. Season with salt. The sauce should pour slowly from a spoon, not run freely. Add more crackers to thicken or more milk to thin.

2

Peel and cut the potatoes into thick strips. Dry thoroughly. Fry in oil at 175°C for 5 to 6 minutes until golden. Season with salt and keep warm.

3

Slice the frankfurters into 1.5cm rounds. Fry in hot oil for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once, until the cut faces are golden.

4

Arrange the fries on a plate, pile the sausage coins on top, and ladle the huancaína sauce generously over the whole plate. Any sauce that pools at the bottom is for dragging the fries through.

Tips

Ají amarillo from a jar works well here and is easier to find outside Peru. The heat level of jarred peppers varies by brand: taste the sauce before seasoning. Huancaína sauce keeps in the refrigerator for three days and works as a dip for vegetables or a dressing for potato salad.