Papa a la Huancaina Verde
Papa a la Huancaina is a classic Peruvian appetizer. It is best described as a type of potato salad that is dressed in a sauce made with peppers, milk and queso fresco. The sauce is traditionally made with Peruvian aji amarillo (yellow hot peppers) and served over boiled potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, olives and a lettuce leaf. This version of the dish has a few tweaks but still stays true to the soul of the dish. I have added a bit of cilantro to the sauce (hence the addition of the word VERDE to the name) and made a few adjustments to the garnishes. Papa a la Huancaina is great for entertaining because it can be made well ahead of time and kept in the fridge or at room temperature until ready to serve.
Huancaina
The name “Papa a la Huancaina” (pronounced wan-ka-eena) means something along the lines of “potatoes in the style of Huancayo”. Huancayo being the name of a province and city in the highlands of Peru. The sauce used in this dish is one of my favorite sauces to have in my refridgerator. It goes well with chicken, steak, vegetables….almost anything. It is typically made with queso fresco but I have found feta cheese to work very well. This recipe will yield more sauce than is necessary for the dish. Extra sauce will stay good for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Goes well with:
Papa a la Huancaina Verde
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
Huancaina Verde Sauce
- 6-7 large japaleno peppers 175 grams after de-seeding
- 2/3 cup sliced onion 60 grams
- 4 cloves of garlic 10 grams
- 3 tbsp neutral-flavored cooking oil (canola, vegetable, corn….etc) (2 tbsp for sauteeing, 1 tbsp for blending into the sauce)
- 2 oz feta cheese 50 grams
- 2 cups packed cilantro leaves, with small stems 70 grams
- 6 tbsp whole milk
- 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 4 tsp kosher salt (use only 2 tsp if using table salt)
Finished Dish
- 1/2 pound fingerling or marble potatoes
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 1 small endive or a small handful of other salad green
- 1 oz feta cheese, for crumbling
- a few sprigs of dill or cilantro for garnish
- 4-5 pitted, halved, briney black olives (optional)
- olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper
Instructions
Huancaina Verde Sauce
- Use a knife to cut away the flesh from the seeds and stems of the jalapenos. Reserve the seeds to adjust the spiciness later on.
- If you are sensitive to spiciness, cut away the white membrane from the jalapeno flesh and discard.
- Cut the jalapenos into large pieces. At this point you should have about 6oz of clean jalapeno.
- Warm up 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat and sautee the onion for about 1-2 minutes, or until they just begin to soften.
- Add the sliced jalapenos and cook for another 3-4 minutes while stirring. Jalapenos and onions should be softening up and have just a tiny bit of color on them.
- Add the garlic and cook everything for 1-2 more minutes. When you are done cooking, the vegetables should be slightly softened and have a little bit of color on them.
- Place the onions, peppers, and garlic on a plate and put in the refrigerator or freezer until cold (but not frozen).
- Wash and dry cilantro leaves if necessary.
- When the cooked vegetables are chilled, place them in the blender along with all of the other sauce ingredients. Blend very well but do not blend so long that the sauce begins to get too warm.
- Sauce should be bright green and have a nice sauce consistency. Taste the sauce for spiciness, If you want it to be spicier, blend in small amounts of the reserved jalapeno seeds until it is at your desired spice level. Sauce should be very well seasoned and a bit tangy. Adjust seasoning with additional salt and lime juice if necessary. This will yield more sauce than is necessary for the dish. Leftover sauce will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Finished Dish
- Peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut into quarters. Season the eggs lightly with salt and pepper. Set aside
- Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water. Season water very well with salt and bring to a low simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender. Once cooked, remove potatoes from the water and let them cool in the refrigerator until room temperature or cold. You could also serve the potatoes warm if you like, the dish is still delicious this way.
- When the potatoes are at your desired serving temperature, cut them in half or in bite-size pieces. Cut the bottom off of the endive and separate the leaves. Season the potatoes and endive with olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.
- Spread lots of sauce on the bottom of your serving plate. About 1/2 cup.
- Place the seasoned potatoes, endive and hard-boiled eggs on top of the sauce. Garnish the plate with 1 oz crumble feta, the picked dill/cilantro and the optional pitted/halved olives. Finish the plate with an additional drizzle of olive oil, a few grinds of black pepper and a squeeze of lime juice.
