Aji Panca Paste
“Peruvian dried red chili paste — aji panca rehydrated and blended. Smoky, raisin-sweet, low heat. The slow base of anticucho marinades.”
Where it comes from
Aji panca (Capsicum chinense, sun-dried form of red mirasol-relative) is the Inca-era smoke-cured chili of the central Andes. Anticuchos — beef-heart skewers marinated in panca, vinegar, garlic, cumin — were street food on the Lima Plaza de Armas by the 17th century.
On the plate
Deep brick-red, sticky, almost prune-like in aroma. Heat barely 1,000-1,500 SHU — kids eat it. Tastes of dried fruit, cocoa nib, woodsmoke. Smeared on grilling meat it caramelizes into a black crust.
How it works
Toast the dried pods 30 sec in a dry pan to wake the smoke compounds, then soak in hot water 20 min. Blend with the soaking liquor, garlic, oil — the pectin in the pod walls gives it the cling needed to coat skewered meat.
Doña Grimanesa Vargas's anticucho cart on Calle Atahualpa, Miraflores — open since 1976 — uses a panca marinade aged 24 hours minimum with a splash of red chicha de jora. She sold the cart to her family in 2011 to open a brick-and-mortar; the recipe didn't change.
Variations
Pasta de aji panca (standard), panca + rocoto blend (Arequipa, hotter), panca-soy (Chinese-Peruvian chifa version for lomo saltado), and the dry powder form (panca molido) used in Cusco morcilla.
On the Palate
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
3 steps · Show ↓31 min active · 3 min waiting
How it's made
3 steps · Show ↓- 130 min
Rehydrate 100 g dried aji panca in hot water 30 min; stem and deseed.
- 23 min
Blend with 2 garlic cloves, 1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp salt, splash of soaking liquid.
- 31 min
Use as marinade base for anticucho or as condiment.
