Papas a la Huancaína, Peruvian Potatoes in Aji Amarillo Cream
Papas a la Huancaína is the yellow-sauced potato that opens countless Peruvian meals, named for the city of Huancayo and built, in its usual form, on fresh cheese, evaporated milk, oil, and saltine crackers blended with aji amarillo. The chile is the soul of it: a bright golden pepper, fruity and floral, that gives Peruvian cooking its color and only a gentle heat. Everything around the chile can be rebuilt from whole plants. Soaked cashews blend into a cream as smooth as the dairy original, a spoon of nutritional yeast stands in for the tang of the queso fresco, and lime sharpens the whole thing so no salt is wanted. Serve it as Peruvians do, over a bed of lettuce as a first course or a side, the potatoes cool and the sauce just warm.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb Potatoes, scrubbed, boiled whole, peeled and thickly sliced
- 1/2 cup Raw cashews, soaked 15 minutes in hot water, drained
- 3 tbsp Aji amarillo paste
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1 tbsp Nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp Lime juice
- 1/2 cup Unsweetened soy milk
- 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
- 4 leafs Romaine, to line the plates
Method
- Boil the whole potatoes in their skins until a knife slides through easily, about 20 minutes, then drain and let them cool enough to peel and slice thick. Cooking them whole and unpeeled keeps them from waterlogging, so the slices stay firm under the sauce.
- Blend the drained cashews, aji amarillo paste, garlic, nutritional yeast, lime juice, soy milk, and black pepper until completely smooth, 2 minutes in a blender. The traditional sauce is bound by queso fresco and evaporated milk; soaked cashews give the same pourable richness, and nutritional yeast returns the faint cheesy savor.
- Check the texture. The cream should coat a spoon but still pour, so blend in soy milk a tablespoon at a time if it is too thick. Aji amarillo is fruity and only moderately hot, which is why it can be used by the spoonful rather than the pinch.
- Line a platter with romaine leaves and fan the potato slices over them. The lettuce is the customary bed and keeps the dish from being all starch.
- Pour the warm cream generously over the potatoes just before serving. It is best fresh but holds a day in the fridge; loosen it with a splash of soy milk and let it come to cool room temperature, since it firms up cold.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 230 calories, 7 g protein, 4 g fiber, 40 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
