This is the quintessential Peruvian sauce, originally the main ingredient of papa a la huancaína (Huancayo-style potato), but nowadays used as a sauce to serve alongside pretty much anything. I like to serve it with cassava chips, made by boiling frozen cassava and then frying it in butter.
The original recipe has the following ingredients: ají amarillo (Peruvian yellow chilli), queso fresco (Peruvian feta cheese), evaporated milk and soda crackers. I used to sautée the chillies with onion and garlic but this is optional. I now omit the crackers to make it gluten-free and lower carb and use ají amarillo paste because I can’t find fresh ones in Sydney. Also, Australian feta is closer in flavour to its Peruvian cousin than the Greek or Danish varieties.
Simple huancaína sauce
Yield: about 1 cup
Ingredients
- 200g Australian feta
- 1/2 cup cooking cream
- 1 tsp ají amarillo paste
To serve – any or all of the following:
- boiled potatoes
- boiled and fried cassava
- Peruvian corn kernels threaded in toothpics
Directions
- Blend all sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor to your desired level of chunkiness.
- Serve with starchy things to dip in sauce.