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    Potatoes · Recipe · Peru · Reference page

    Papas a la huancaína

    Cold boiled potatoes under a creamy yellow sauce of ají amarillo chilli, fresh cheese, evaporated milk and crackers, served with eggs, olives and lettuce. The name refers to Huancayo in the Andes. This version is Olivia Andrews's for SBS's Feast magazine.

    Papas a la huancaina with pale potato wedges, yellow cheese sauce, red onion, olives, egg and lettuce.
    Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.
    Servings
    4
    Preparation
    20 min
    Cooking
    25 min
    Total
    45 min
    Difficulty
    Easy

    Equipment

    • Saucepan; frying pan; blender
    Servings4

    Ingredients

    • The potatoes

    • The huancaína sauce

    • To serve

    Shopping list

    Method

    1. Put the potatoes in cold salted water, bring to the boil and cook about 15 minutes until tender. Drain and cool, then peel and cut into wedges.

      Timer · 15 min15:00

    2. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the garlic and a quarter of the onions for 6 minutes until soft. Cool slightly.

      Timer · 6 min6:00

    3. Blend the ají amarillo, queso fresco, evaporated milk, milk, crackers, 1½ tbsp lime juice, the remaining 2 tbsp oil and the fried onion to a purée. Season with salt and pepper. It makes about 500 ml.

      Why The crackers thicken the sauce; evaporated milk gives body without splitting.

    4. Toss the remaining onion with the olives, coriander and the rest of the lime juice.

    5. Divide the potatoes among plates, pour over the sauce, top with the onion salad and extra crumbled cheese, and serve cold with eggs and lettuce.

    To drink & serve with

    • Peru

      Editorial suggestion: a pisco sour or a cold Peruvian white.

    Substitutions

    • Queso fresco → A mild feta or farmer's cottage cheese (source).
    • Ají amarillo → Ají amarillo paste; there is no good fresh substitute for its fruity heat.

    Common mistakes

    • Serving the potatoes hot: the dish is eaten cold or at room temperature.

    Storage & reheating

    Leftover sauce keeps up to 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge; it also suits grilled chicken or steak.

    Safety

    Contains milk (cheese, evaporated milk), gluten (crackers) and egg (garnish). Keep the cold dish chilled until serving.

    Allergens

    Milk · Gluten · Egg

    Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

    Dietary

    vegetarian

    Named for Huancayo

    SBS presents papas a la huancaína as a national dish of Peru, the potato's homeland, and notes that the name refers to Huancayo, a city in the central Andean highlands. Queso fresco, a soft, mild cow's-milk cheese, is the traditional base for the sauce. We found no documented account of when or where the dish was first made.

    [1][2]

    A blended, uncooked sauce

    Apart from a little onion and garlic softened in oil, the sauce is not cooked: ají amarillo, fresh cheese, evaporated and fresh milk, crackers and lime are simply blended. The yellow chilli gives fruit and heat, the cheese salt, the crackers body. Andrews adds a sharp onion, olive and coriander salad on top, a modern touch, while the eggs, olives and lettuce are the familiar garnish.

    [1]

    How it connects

    Place

    • origin Peru In preparation

    Potato

    Recipe

    Wine region

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