What can I use instead of ají panca paste in anticuchos?

Two dried ancho chillies soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and blended with a teaspoon of smoked paprika comes reasonably close in colour and in the raisin-like, smoky flavour, though ají panca is fruitier and barely hot. The same marinade also works on sirloin or skirt steak if beef heart is not available at all.

How far ahead can anticuchos be prepared and how do I store it?

The meat can sit in the marinade for up to 12 hours, and marinated cubes freeze well for two months. Grilled anticuchos are best straight off the fire; leftovers keep a day and should be reheated fast over high heat rather than gently, which dries them.

What other anticuchos are there?

The same marinade goes onto chicken, sirloin, tripe called rachi, and grilled intestine called choncholí, all sold from the same braziers. Bolivia and Chile have their own versions, and the Peruvian one is distinguished by ají panca rather than fresh chilli and by the vinegar in the marinade.

How are anticuchos served?

Two skewers per person with a boiled yellow potato, a thick round of corn and small dishes of ají and rocoto sauce, eaten standing or at a plastic table in the evening. It is street food rather than a sit-down first course, and no bread or rice belongs beside it.

Peru · Meat Dishes · High protein

Anticuchos de Corazón

Name: Anticuchos de Corazón
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Peruvian
Ingredients: 1 kg beef heart; 4 tbsp ají panca paste; 6 cloves garlic; 5 tbsp red wine vinegar; 2 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp dried oregano; 4 tbsp vegetable oil; 1.5 tsp fine sea salt; 1 tsp ground black pepper; 4 pieces yellow potatoes; 2 pieces corn on the cob; 12 pieces bamboo skewers

Anticuchos are skewers of beef heart marinated in ají panca, garlic, cumin and vinegar, then grilled over charcoal. They belong to the street corners of Lima, where the anticucheras set up braziers in the evening and serve them with a boiled potato, a piece of corn and a chilli sauce. The dish traces back to colonial Peru, when enslaved workers were given the offcuts that the Spanish kitchens discarded and applied a spiced-and-skewered technique to the heart, the cut closest in texture to muscle meat. Heart is dense, lean and mild rather than strong-tasting, and the entire difficulty lies in trimming it properly and taking it off the fire early. Marinating time comes on top of the stated time.

45 min 420 kcal 4 serves Medium💪High protein🇵🇪Peru Jump to recipe★★★★★5.0· 1 reviews

Recipes by emailSubscribe →

Ingredients

ServingsMetric

1 kgbeef heart
4 tbspají panca paste
6 clovesgarlic
5 tbspred wine vinegar
2 tspground cumin
1 tspdried oregano
4 tbspvegetable oil
1.5 tspfine sea salt
1 tspground black pepper
4 piecesyellow potatoes
2 piecescorn on the cob
12 piecesbamboo skewers

Method

Trim the heart down to clean dark muscle: cut away the outer fat, the valves and vessels at the top, the inner membrane and every trace of silverskin. Expect to lose around a third of the weight from 1 kg. Anything silvery left behind turns to elastic on the grill and no marinade will soften it.
Cut the trimmed heart across the grain into 3 cm cubes about 1.5 cm thick, so each piece cooks through in the two or three minutes it spends over the coals.
Whisk the ají panca paste with the crushed garlic, vinegar, cumin, oregano, half the oil, the salt and the pepper. Turn the cubes through it, cover and refrigerate 4 to 12 hours. Do not go past 12: the vinegar starts to break down the surface and the meat cooks up mealy.
Soak the bamboo skewers in cold water for 30 minutes so they do not catch fire. Thread three or four cubes onto each, flat faces outward and pieces just touching rather than compressed, since tightly packed meat steams where the pieces meet.
Boil the potatoes in salted water for 20 to 25 minutes until a knife slides out cleanly, and boil the corn for 15 minutes. Keep both warm. Set the leftover marinade aside and thin it with the remaining oil for basting.
Grill over hot charcoal with the grate about 10 cm above the coals, 2 to 3 minutes per side, brushing with the thinned marinade each time you turn. Heart is offal, so cook it to 71 °C in the centre (the USDA target for variety meats): push an instant-read thermometer into the middle of the thickest cube. At that point the edges are charred and the centre is firm and pale pink-brown with no wet red left. Take the skewers off as soon as it reads 71 °C; lean heart toughens quickly past that point.
Rest the skewers 2 minutes so the juices settle, then serve with the potato and corn and a chilli sauce on the side. Any basting marinade that touched raw meat must be boiled for 2 minutes before it goes near the plate.

FAQ

Either silverskin and membrane were left on, or the meat went well past 71 °C. Trim until the surface is uniformly dark red with nothing pearly on it, cut even cubes, and take each skewer off the fire as soon as the centre reaches 71 °C.