Aji de Gallina (Spicy Creamed Chicken)
Every time I go Stoned Souping in downtown Denver, I eat at my favorite restaurant, Los Cabos, a small Peruvian joint with absolutely amazing food. I know because I’ve eaten almost the entire menu. They have excellent ceviches, really tender aji de panca spare ribs, Seco de carne, Peruvian chicken and rice, whol roasted fish, and so much more. I was just recently there a week ago. One of my favorite menu items is called Aji de Gallina; spicy creamed chicken. The chicken is shredded and cooked in a spicy creamy sauce. The sauce is thickened with milk soaked bread, walnuts, and cheese puréed with sautéed onions, garlic, and aji amarillo peppers. The yellowish color comes from these peppers, which tastes like a spicy yellow bell pepper. It is hard to find this pepper in this country. You might be able to find it at a Latin grocery store. What you can find is the pepper in paste form. The chicken is traditionally served with boiled yellow potatoes, steamed rice, and is garnished with hard boiled eggs and black olives. Olives happen to be one of the only food items I despise. Please add them in if you are a fan. But you’ll never see them on any recipe on my site.
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 4 slices white bread
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 3 tbsp walnuts
- 3 tbsp queso fresco cheese
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 medium white onion diced
- 1 head garlic peeled
- 1/2 cup aji amirillo paste
- 4 cooked red or yellow potatoes sliced
- 3 hard boiled eggs sliced
Instructions
- Place the bread and evaporated milk in a bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes.
- While the bread is sitting in the milk, poach the chicken breasts in the chicken stock for 15 minutes.
- Remove the chicken breasts and let cool completely. Save the stock.
- Heat up vegetable oil in a large sauce pan over medium high heat. Add in the onions and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add in the aji amarillo paste. Cook for another 5 minutes.
- While the onions and garlic are cooking, add the soaked bread slices, walnuts, and cheese to a food processor or blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Add the sautéed onions and garlic to the food processor.
- Blend until smooth.
- In the same sauce pan, add in the shredded chicken, the spicy cream sauce, and 2 cups of the chicken stock. Simmer covered on medium heat for 15 minutes.
- Stir in the potatoes. Cook for another 5 minutes uncovered.
- Turn off the heat. Garnish with sliced hard boiled eggs.
