🇧🇴 Bolivian Cuisine

Fricasé Paceño

La Paz Spicy Stew

Prep Time 20 min
Servings 6
Difficulty Medium
Calories 518 kcal

A fiery, brick-red La Paz stew of tender beef simmered in a thick sauce of yellow aji peppers, cumin, and hominy corn, served steaming hot at dawn.

Ingredients

  • 1kg beef shank, cut into chunks
  • 2 cups dried hominy corn (mote), soaked overnight
  • 8 dried yellow aji peppers, rehydrated
  • 1 onion, quartered
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 6 cups water
  • Salt
  • Chuño (freeze-dried potatoes) or fresh potatoes

Instructions

  1. 1 Boil beef in water with onion and garlic for 1 hour until tender. Reserve broth.
  2. 2 Blend rehydrated aji peppers with cumin, oregano, and 1 cup broth into a smooth paste.
  3. 3 Strain aji paste into the pot with the beef. Stir to combine.
  4. 4 Add soaked hominy and chuño or potato chunks. Simmer 30 min until corn is tender.
  5. 5 Season with salt. The broth should be thick and intensely golden-red.
  6. 6 Serve very hot in deep bowls, traditionally at 5 AM from market stalls.

Did You Know?

Fricasé is Bolivia's legendary hangover cure — market stalls in La Paz start serving it at 4 AM for revelers stumbling home.

From The Culinary Codex — http://theculinarycodex.com/dish/bolivian/fricase-paceno/