Peruvian Cuisine May 14

I am so lucky to have the opportunity to be in Peru! I love everything about this place. I love the culture, food, and most of all the people. Since I am staying with some relatives I have the privilege of helping out in my favorite part of the house, the kitchen. We start out the day by drinking an herbal tea (coffee for my tio) or fruit smoothie always coupled with pan Frances or ceke.

Then it is off to the market to buy the fresh ingredients for almuerzo (lunch). In the market the fruits and vegetables are freshly picked and the meat was killed minutes before being sold. There are stores like Walmart here, but when you can get everything fresh hardly anyone shops at retail stores.

Every time I cook with my grandma and great aunt I am always so amazed because they never use a recipe or measuring utensils. They just eye the measurements and some how the food always turns out wonderful! Today we made lentils and my great uncle made chifa de verdura (vegetable stir fry).It was so yummy I forgot to take a picture but thankfully I wrote down the recipes.

Chifa
Add the following ingredients in order in a medium pot
3/4 C rice vinegar
3 lengthwise sliced carrots
2 C green beans
1 of each red, green, yellow pepper sliced lengthwise
1 cucumber sliced lengthwise
2 Daikon (long white radish) sliced lengthwise
Cook on high until the veggies are almost cooked. Then take out about a cup of the juice in the pot and mix with 1/2 - 3/4 C potato starch and add back into the pot. Cook for about five more minutes and serve.

Tacu Tacu
Put a pot of water to boil while you wash the lentils. When it begins to boil add the lentils with salt for taste and some pieces of cooked pork/bacon or as they call it in Peru (tocino). While that cooks make the aderosa (a salsa that you add to the lentils). Dice a onions and tomato. In a small frying pan add some oil to fry the onions and add some ajo molido [this is a staple in Peruvian cooking as well as aji molido. Ajo (garlic) is blended with hardly any water, while the aji (pepper, which can be bought in the us as dried california peppers in the hispanic aisle in the US) is also blended with a little water, these are blended until they have the texture of ketchup. It is then stored in the fridge and used in almost every peruvian entree]. When the onions become translucent add the tomatoes and when all the ingredients come together add them to the cooked lentils and cook until you can taste that the flavors have come together. Serve with rice!