The Andes · Volume 17, Altitude, Chuño and the Picantería Table
Chiri uchu
Cusco, Peru
Illustration
As tradition built it
Chiri uchu
Corpus Christi dish; exact roster varies by household
Ingredients
- as available roasted cuy
- as available hen or chicken
- as available chalona
- as available chorizo
- as available fish roe
- as available cochayuyo seaweed
- as available toasted cancha corn
- as available rocoto
- as available queso fresco
- as available torreja de maíz (corn fritter)
- as available tullan (cuy tripe stuffed with blood and small pieces of potato)
Method
- Prepare each component separately: roast the cuy and the hen or chicken; prepare chalona, chorizo and fish roe; bring in cochayuyo seaweed carried up from the coast; toast the cancha corn; prepare rocoto and queso fresco.
- Make the corn fritter, torreja de maíz.
- Stuff cuy tripe, tullan, with blood and small pieces of potato.
- Assemble all the components together and serve cold.
Notes
The exact roster of components varies by household; it is presented that way.
What a modern chef changes
Composed plate, held not rebuilt
Method
- Leave the assembly's own internal logic entirely alone, since chiri uchu's whole point is a composed plate of distinct, individually finished elements.
- Cook the chalona and the cuy each sous vide before their final char, so both hold moisture through the cold service.
- Dehydrate the cochayuyo briefly to concentrate its flavour before it is rehydrated for plating.
- Pass a small portion of the tullan's stuffing through the chinois for a smoother, more composed version of a component traditionally left coarse.