Note: this recipe requires the Peruvian Rocoto chilli
pepper, a kind of cross between a chilli and a small red bell
pepper, and Aji Panca paste. These can be purchased from Sol Andino
on-line and in person in London.
Note: the Rocoto is a weapons-grade vegetable: we recommend
wearing gloves when handling them and certainly when touching
the seeds/ribs. And never, ever, touch a sensitive part of your
body immediately after handling them. Note: the quantities in this recipe are straight from the
original reference above however we have found that there is
generally about twice as much filling as required. We think
this is because the Rocoto's themselves vary wildly in size.
You'll find another use for the left-over filling: it is quite
tasty.
Serves 10 (one pepper each).
Ingredients
10 Rocoto peppers
3 tbsp sugar
500 gm beef, cut into 1 cm squares
5 tbsp Aji Panca paste
2 bay leaves
1 kg red onions, diced
0.25 tsp sugar
0.5 tsp dried oregano
5 black olives, pitted and sliced
5 eggs, two of which should be hard boiled and chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp raisins
400 gm tin unsweetened evaporated milk (yes, really)
oil for frying
salt, pepper and a little more sugar for seasoning
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180 C.
Carefully cut the top off each Rocoto pepper (keeping the
tops); spoon out and discard all of the seeds and the
ribs. Make sure you do a proper job of this or the
Rocotos will be too hot to bare.
Bring a kettle of water to the boil, pour it into a pan,
add 1 tbsp of sugar, add the peppers and bring to the boil
again for 5 minutes.
Discard the water and repeat step 3 a further THREE times,
i.e. FOUR times in total; this will make the peppers bearable
to eat.
Drain/cool the peppers and put them to one side; you may
find that they are somewhat flaccid but that is OK, it is
better to thoroughly tame them, they will look fine when their
tops are returned.
Fry the beef on a high heat with the Aji Panca paste and
bay leaves.
Add the diced onions and fry for a few minutes.
Add the oregano, olives, hard-boiled eggs, parsley and
raisins and fry for a few minutes.
Season to taste and add 0.25 tsp sugar.
Place the Rocoto peppers together in an oven-proof dish so
that they are held upright.
Fill the Rocoto peppers with the mixture.
Beat two eggs well and place a tablespoon of egg into each
pepper.
In a bowl, beat one egg with one can of unsweetened
evaporated milk plus salt and pepper to taste.
Pour this mixture into the peppers; letting it overflow is
fine.
Put the tops back on all of the peppers.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until the goo coagulates; this can
vary depending on how large your eggs were.