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The Carapulcra is an ancient dish; maybe the oldest peruvian stew. It contains dried potatoes, chilis, peanuts, cumin and, in this case, pork (it can be chicken or both). Originally, the carapulcra was made in clay pots; this custom is still kept in Chincha, a city in Ica (south of Lima) and in some restaurants. In Ica, the carapulcra is served next to the sopa seca (dry soup) - in despite of its name, it’s not a soup but a special way to cook the spaguettis (we’ll see it later). Return to the age of Incas with this recipe for 8 people.

Ingredients:

• 400 g (14 oz) of dried potatoes (papa seca)
• 1 kg (2.2 lb) of pork chop (without bones)
• 100 g (3.5 oz) of toasted and ground peanuts
• 50 g (2 tablespoons) of ground garlic
• 3 tablespoons of aji panca in paste (in the link you’ll know how to make the paste).
• 2 tablespoons of aji Mirasol in paste (the same for this)
• 1/4 cup of red vinegar
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 3 ground soda cookies
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
• 1 tablespoon of cumin
• 1 litre (4 cups) of beef stock (it can be made with a bouillon cube)
• 1 cup of vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup of port wine

Preparation:

Brown the dried potatoes in a frying pan. Soak immediately in water for 30 minutes.

Cut three quarters of the pork in big pieces; the rest in small ones.

Mix the vinegar, pepper, cumin, aji panca, aji mirasol, garlic and salt. Use this mix to marinade the pork for 30 minutes.

After it, fry the big pieces of pork until it gets brown with 1/2 cup of vegetable oil. Remove them and fry the small pieces in the same oil.

Pour the remaining oil in another pot, add the other 1/2 cup and the rest of the marinade ingredients. Fry for 2 minutes on a medium flame.

Add to this preparation the stock, the wine, water and the dried potatoes (previously removed from the water).

Cook on a low flame, stiring occasionally, for 90 minutes. Add the pork and cook 30 minutes more until all gets cooked.

When it’s finishing, add the peanuts, the ground soda cookies and the port wine.

Serve with white rice (or, as we’ll see, with sopa seca).

Note: Some people, to emphasize the sweet of this recipe, add a little of chocolate (we recommend Sublime with peanuts).

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