Rocoto Relleno

Name: Rocoto Relleno
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Peruvian
Ingredients: 6 Rocoto chillies, large; 500 g Minced beef; 2 Onions, finely chopped; 4 cloves Garlic, crushed; 2 tbsp Ají panca paste; 2 tsp Ground cumin; 60 g Black olives, chopped; 2 Hard-boiled eggs, chopped; 50 g Peanuts, chopped; 200 g Queso fresco or mozzarella, sliced; 200 ml Evaporated milk; 2 Eggs for the custard; 4 tbsp Sugar for the boiling water; 4 tbsp Vinegar for the boiling water; 3 tbsp Oil; 2 tsp Salt

Whole rocoto chillies boiled three times to tame them, stuffed with spiced minced beef, olives and egg, capped with cheese and baked — Arequipa's signature, and genuinely hot even after all that.

Fuente

Receta de Andean kitchens · 🏺 Tradicional · The highlands, where the potato was domesticated — over 3,000 varieties, boiled and pressed and layered, with a chilli sauce over the top.

Peruvian · Arequipa — An ownerless traditional dish, so no cook is credited. The cited article confirms it as the Peruvian variety of stuffed peppers and its association with the city of Arequipa. Quantities, the three-boil method and the glove warning are this book's own.

Background on Wikipedia ↗

Watch it being made · 3 videos

Rodrigo Fernandini Buenazo EL RICO JAYARI DE AREQUIPA

⏱ 110 min🍽 6 porciones🔥 480 kcal🇵🇪 Perú🌶️🌶️🌶️

HalalSin gluten

Pasos

Cut the tops off the rocotos and keep them. Scoop out the seeds and white ribs — wear gloves.
💡 Gloves, and do not touch your face for an hour afterwards. Rocoto oil transfers to skin and stays there through several hand washes.
Boil the rocotos in water with the sugar and vinegar for 5 minutes. Drain, and repeat twice more with fresh water each time.
💡 Three boils, fresh water each time. Two is not enough and the result is inedible; four starts to cook the flesh soft.
Fry the onion and garlic in the oil for 8 minutes, add the mince and cook until browned, then the ají panca, cumin and salt.
Take it off the heat and stir in the olives, chopped egg and peanuts. Cool slightly.
Fill each rocoto, lay a slice of cheese on top and put the cap back on. Stand them in a baking dish.
Whisk the evaporated milk with the custard eggs, pour it round the base and bake at 180°C for 30 minutes until set and browned on top.

💡 Consejos

It is served with pastel de papa — a potato and cheese gratin — and the two are almost never separated in Arequipa.
Even after three boils it is hot. That is the dish working correctly, not a mistake in the method.
The sugar and vinegar in the boiling water draw out capsaicin far better than plain water. Do not skip them.