Olluco Americana with Cancha - Another Andean Cuisine Fusion

The Olluco (Ullucus tuberosus), from the quechuan word “Ulluku”, is one tuber that I wanted to cook for a long time. Last time I ate this yellow little tuber I was a child.



The Olluco is probably the second most important tuber in Andean culture after potato. If you wonder, it is tender, moist and a bit sweet when cooked. Usually served with white rice aside (I won’t do that this time as you can see).

I didn’t cooked olluco before because a missing ingredient : Charqui, which is a sort of jerky beef, but made of Llama. “Charqui” is a quechuan word for “Salted meat”.



Eventually the name was changed to “Jerky” when it became known in the rest of the world. So...., I’ve been studying other alternative ingredients for Charqui, I’ve heard Mexican “Cecina” is similar and I could find it in some places, but when I would like to offer a more friendly option, something that everybody likes and easy to find here in the USA. The magic word is BACON !

I found the Olluco and Rocoto in a frozen food section of a supermarket, cheap and easy to use.


….and this is what I did :

1.- I chopped one onion, 4 or 5 garlic cloves and a piece of hot red pepper (I used “Rocoto” since I found it next to the olluco). Pay attention to avoid using the veins and seeds inside the hot red pepper, they are too hot. I guess you can replace it with crushed dry red peppers, you can find that in any supermarket.

2.- Then I chopped the bacon, a full 1.25 Lbs. pack, then fried until most of the fat came out. Drained and saved the fat aside.


3.- Fry the onions, garlic and hot pepper using a little of the fat from the bacon, add a bit of salt and caramelize.

4.- Put the olluco in a pot, fire set at high, add the fried onions, garlic and hot red pepper, mix and cover for about 3 minutes. Add the fried bacon and mix again.

Set the fire to medium-low and cover. Keep mixing with intervals. Soon you'll see the steam. Let it cook a bit more until the olluco gets tender.


Note : Almost forgot to mention, add some parsley and oregano and mix one more time before serving.

Now, like I said at the beginning, I won’t serve it with white rice, which is what usually people do. Instead I’ll offer “Cancha”, fried dry corn. Very simple to do and it adds one more layer of andean culture to the dish.

1.- I used a few spoons of the bacon fat I saved, but you can use olive oil is want. Just pour the dry corn on the pan with the oil.

2.- Now this is the fun part, while you stir the corn with one hand, you have to cover the pan with the other when the corn starts popping. Keep doing that until you see the corn is toasted. Add salt at the end.

Looks like a fine version of "meat and 'taters."
There are almost infinite variations of tubers and meats to mix with any variety of spices.
You got your carbohydrates, minerals, and proteins all in one dish.
If you like the Andean style, throw some baby potatoes, carrot, and onion in a pan with guinea pig. Add a little water, cover, and braise for a couple of hours. A little salt and pepper and you've got some good grub.

originally posted by: skunkape23
Looks like a fine version of "meat and 'taters."
There are almost infinite variations of tubers and meats to mix with any variety of spices.
You got your carbohydrates, minerals, and proteins all in one dish.
If you like the Andean style, throw some baby potatoes, carrot, and onion in a pan with guinea pig. Add a little water, cover, and braise for a couple of hours. A little salt and pepper and you've got some good grub.

Oh yeah....guinea pigs are delicious. I ate a few ones. Here they are pets, so weird.

originally posted by: Trueman

originally posted by: skunkape23
Looks like a fine version of "meat and 'taters."
There are almost infinite variations of tubers and meats to mix with any variety of spices.
You got your carbohydrates, minerals, and proteins all in one dish.
If you like the Andean style, throw some baby potatoes, carrot, and onion in a pan with guinea pig. Add a little water, cover, and braise for a couple of hours. A little salt and pepper and you've got some good grub.

Oh yeah....guinea pigs are delicious. I ate a few ones. Here they are pets, so weird.

Guinea pig, or cuy, as they call them down south, suck as pets. I got bit on the finger by one and my nail fell off. They eat their own young, stink of piss, and make annoying sounds early in the morning. They are, based on archeological record, the first known animal that was farmed for food.

a reply to: skunkape23

Right, they are food. Rabitts are cute too but I rather have them on the grill.

a reply to: Trueman

This looks really awesome! Yes, I will definitely give this a try!