Salchipapas 




I recently read about salchipapas in the current issue of Chile Pepper Magazine and being the French fry lover that I am, I had to give this snack a go. Salchipapas is Peruvian street food that consists of deep fried potatoes and beef hot dogs served with varied condiments. The prominent condiment of choice would seem to be aji Amarillo sauce which is sort of a spicy pepper based mayo. It contains Amarillo peppers from the region, which are yellow, and posses a nice balance sweet and heat. You can order them online dried or in paste form or in ground powdered form. I bought the powder and made my own paste but I understand the paste is the easiest to procure here in the states.

Turns out that the Amarillo pepper is very important and prevalent in Peruvian cooking. The fresh pepper is used to make huancaina, a cheese sauce that is popular on many dishes including the classic papa a la huancaina with cold potatoes and eggs, which we will get to in a future post for sure.

Salchipapas 

INGREDIENTS:

Recipe adapted from Chile Pepper Magazine

4 cups deep fried French fries (“Real” French fry recipe found here)
4 beef hot dogs, cut in half lengthwise and deep fried for about a minute
For the sauce

2 jalapenos, stemmed
2 tablespoons ground aji Amarillo or aji Amarillo paste
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons cotija cheese
1 teaspoon garlic paste or 1 clove ground to a paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 cup mayonnaise


PREPARATION:

Fry up the potatoes and dogs and then mix all the sauce ingredients in a food processor and puree.

Serves 4

Alternate sauce:

SALSA ROSADA

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 teaspoon lime juice
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco (Optional)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (salsa inglesa in Peru)

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl combine all the ingredients and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.