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Chairo puneño
Lamb, chuño and wheat soup
Chairo puneño: Puno's thick lamb soup with chuño, wheat, broad beans, potatoes and charqui
PeruvianHigh on the Altiplano, where nights freeze even in summer, chairo is the soup that gets Puno's market workers and farmers through the day. It is thick and brothy at once: lamb on the bone and a little charqui (dried meat) simmered with crushed chuño, peeled wheat, broad beans, potatoes and squash, scented with cumin, oregano and huacatay or mint. Expect a deep, meaty, slightly smoky bowl with lots of chew. Soak the chuño and the wheat overnight. A common error is adding the potatoes with the meat, so they dissolve before the lamb is tender; they go in for the last 25 minutes. Chef's tip: crush the soaked chuño into small pieces by hand; they thicken the broth as it cooks.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ lb lamb neck or shoulder on the bonecut into pieces
- 2 ⅞ oz charqui or plain beef jerkytorn into small pieces
- 10 ½ cups water
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 ½ oz peeled wheat (trigo pelado)or pearl barley; soaked overnight
- 5 ½ oz chuño (freeze-dried potato)soaked overnight
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 red onionfinely chopped
- 4 garlic clovescrushed
- 1 tbsp ají panca paste
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 carrotsdiced
- 14 oz potatoespeeled, diced
- 7 oz squashdiced
- 5 ½ oz broad beansfresh or frozen
- 2 tbsp huacatay or fresh mintchopped
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 1 ¾ lb lamb neck or shoulder on the bone, 2 ⅞ oz charqui or plain beef jerky, 10 ½ cups water and 2 tsp salt in a large pot. Bring to the boil, skim off the foam and simmer gently, partly covered.
40 minStep 2: Drain 3 ½ oz peeled wheat (trigo pelado) and add it to the pot. Squeeze 5 ½ oz chuño (freeze-dried potato), crush it into small pieces with your fingers and add it too. Simmer, stirring now and then.
30 minStep 3: Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry 1 red onion, 4 garlic cloves, 1 tbsp ají panca paste, 1 tsp ground cumin and 1 tsp dried oregano until soft and fragrant.
8 minStep 5: Add 5 ½ oz broad beans and simmer until tender and the soup is thick enough to coat a spoon.
6 minStep 6: Take the lamb off the bone if you like, return the meat to the pot and stir in 2 tbsp huacatay or fresh mint. Serve very hot.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 460 kcal
- Protein
- 34 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 17 g
- Fibre
- 7 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does chairo puneño take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 100 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of red onion?
- White onion or shallots, same amount (soak raw onion in cold water for 10 minutes to soften it).
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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