Fried chicken pieces smothered in a tangy stew of red onions wilted in vinegar and aji amarillo, garnished with boiled egg, olives and sweet potato.
A vinegar-preservation technique with deep roots in Persian sikbaj (meat cooked in a sweet-and-sour vinegar sauce), brought to Iberia by the Moors and developed into the Spanish escabeche, then carried to Peru via colonization where it became a criollo favorite—fish or chicken fried, then bathed in vinegar and cooked with onions, aji and herbs.
Bright, sharp and savory, the vinegar-soft onions sing against the crisp-edged chicken. Aji amarillo adds fruity heat, while sweet potato and olive provide sweet-and-salty counterpoints. Tangy and bold, it wakes up the palate.
Wilting onions briefly in vinegar tames their sharpness while keeping crunch, and the acidic sauce both seasons and lightly 'cooks' the fried chicken, balancing its richness.
Variations
Escabeche de pescado (fish), with rabbit (conejo), or served cold as a starter.
On the Palate
Where Escabeche de Pollo Peruvian sits in the Peruvian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 20 min
- 110 min
Season and fry the chicken pieces until golden, then set aside.
Watch outFry the chicken to a deep, crisp gold — it's later warmed in acidic sauce, so a soft crust turns soggy instead of holding up.
- 22 min
Cut red onions into thick wedges.
- 35 min
Saute the onions with aji amarillo paste just until they soften.
Watch outSweat the onions in the paste only until they just slump — pull them while they still snap, they should soften, never go limp and sweet.
- 44 min
Add vinegar, oregano and a splash of stock and bring to a simmer.
- 54 min
Return the chicken and warm it through in the sauce.
- 63 min
Let the onions wilt but stay slightly crisp.
Watch outLet the onions wilt in the hot sauce but keep a slight crunch — that bite against the vinegar is the dish's signature.
- 71 min
Plate the chicken topped with the onion sauce.
- 81 min
Garnish with boiled egg, black olives and steamed sweet potato.
