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Published: November 30th -0001
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Ceviche!!!!!!!
This will always be the first reccomendation from your Peruvian friends! I have to admit that have never had any idea about Peruvian cuisine before coming to this country. As a Malaysian I am lucky to have the opportunity to enjoy all kind of fusion from all over Asia. I think that this is why our taste buds are a bit difficult to satisfy. But luckily as a ‘Fan Tong’ (rice bucket), I am glad that rice is also a main meal in the Peruvian food and that’s why I have put on much weight recently. A normal set lunch in the local restaurant is about 5-7soles (about USD1.80 - 2.20) and you have an entrada (appetizer), a main course and a drink (either inca cola or the blackish maize juice chicha morada). And with such a price you can easily get full and satisfied.
First thing I was being recommended when arrived in Lima is the Peruvian national meal: ceviche, a smoked raw fish fillet (with lime / lemon sauce) served with sweet potato, maize and onion. It is right now my favourite appertiser and always more onion or cebolla is more delicious! However, after a few stomachaches, I realized that as a foreigner we better choose to take
Conchita
With only lime and onion, this is my favourite, big time! ceviche from a decent restaurant, which at least manages their fish well and clean. I have tried the ceviche from a 6soles menu including chicken rice and ended up half day sitting in the toilet. It does not mean that the small restaurant is not clean, but just that as a foreigner our stomach is not ‘acostumbre’ and should carefully choose the place to eat ceviche. Ceviche can be an appetizer or a main course itself. But I prefer to have it as an appetizer (to have a big plate of raw fish not my idea of a main course anyway)….
Chupe, a kind of seafood chowder with milk, served with with prawn (chupe de camarones) or with fish (chupe de pescado) is also my favourite. Another type of chowder is parihuela de mariscos, mixed seafood chowder. My personal favorite is chupe de pescado, which is normally served with rice in it, with a fried egg and maize. The chowder is rich and sometimes a bit spicy. But as a Malaysian who likes Thai food and curry so much, this is far too mild. Too bad I have not taken any photo of chupe or parihuela, but if
Chaufa con Mariscos
Fired rice with seafood, a friendly dish to new comer. you see a picture hanging in the Peruvian restaurants showing a big bowl of reddish soup served with crab or prawn, that’s parihuela / chupe.
Chicken rice a.k.a arroz con pollo is a friendlier dish to visitors / tourists in Peru. Sometimes the rice is served in green colour with a chicken breast. Other touirists friendly dishes are like chincharon de pollo (chicken), or de mariscos (seafood) or camarones (shrimps). Normally these are served with the yellowish spicy sauce called ‘aji’. They can be found in almost all local restaurants. Lomo saltado, or pollo saltado is beef fillet chicken or fillet stir fried with tomato and onion. This is one of my favorite which normally served with rice, and all these dishes are ideal for foreigners who dare not risk their stomach for ceviche or weird tasting chupe.
During my visit to Huaraz I’ve got the opportunity to try the fried guinea pig ‘cuy’ and pachamanca. The latter consists of meat (chicken, beef, pork or all three together) baked in an earthen oven. You can see how they make it as shown in the pictures from Wikipedia. The dish served with sweet potato, tamale and Lima beans. I
Maiz morado
Main ingredient for chicha morada. am not sure the one I’ve tried is baked in a traditional way but the restaurant I went ‘La Colina’ is a local favourite restaurant (and luckily it was not recommended by the travelers’ bible Lonely Planet’ yet, so the price is still local rate and not many gringos there.
As for cuy, I’ve seen some restaurants cut off the guinea pig’s head so they can attract and sell to more travelers, who feel better eating it without seeing the head. But sad to say that the meat at the face is actually one of the most delicious parts - I almost left the cuy’s head faceless and the photo I’ve taken on the leftover is just like the mummy I saw in the museum. It is served with potatoes and salsa picante. As a first timer I suggest to order only ¼ which is enough for one person. I also want to apologise for those who think I am a bad person for eating guinea pig - Im just following my motto - do whatever the locals do, eat whatever the locals eat!!
Another thing surprises me in Peru is Chifa: local Chinese owned restaurant,
serving Chinese-Peruvian fusion food. The word chifa comes from the Chinese word: eat rice, and they somehow translate it to chifa and now it becomes one of the most popular eatery at Peru. The locals like chaufa, which is a direct Cantonese pronunciation of fried rice. And the quantity served in chifas is always more than it should be. Normally a fried rice for one person is served in the amount of two, where to take away the leftover (para llevar) is a very common thing here, even in a decent restaurant. Chifas can be divided into two major types: owned by Cantonese and owned by Hokkiens. I would say the more famous restaurants and more delicious food are from those owned by Cantonese, which normally have longer history in Peru.
The quantum of food served in Lima (or perhaps the whole Peru?) is always big, and I have observed even locals they cant always finish such quantity and have to ask for takeaway, or order only half of a personal meal. I am not sure how they measure a personal meal would be here…at first I always ended up takeaway my leftover food and now, I rather
order half whatever personal meal on the meal, then it will be a real ‘personal meal’ for me.
I’ve also found out that Peruvians prefer stronger tastes, for example when a dish is served the first thing most the people will do is put some salt or soy sauce on it before tasting whether it is salty enough. For me most of the food, especially those served in the chifas are always too salty as per my level. Asking for less salt or ajinomoto has become the first thing I’ll ask when ordering my meals.
Other than Peruvian food and chifas , there are numbers of Japanese and Korean restaurants in Lima too. I like visiting the Japanese restaurants where they serve handrolls (maki) which can only be found in Peru, for example Inca Roll. Also in Lima there is only one Thai restaurant, and another one I found is in Huaraz. The one in Huaraz, as recommended by Lonely Planet is really serving authentic Thai cuisine. Even though it is a bit pricy to Peruvian standard but the Tom Yum they served is so far the best I’ve had in these two years. Furthermore the
Chincharon de Pollo
A bit like cheicken nugget. Thai owner and his Columbian wife are so friendly who made me felt like going back to South East Asia.
Not to be missed is the local drink, I mean local alcohol drink. Besides Crystal, Pilsen and Cusquena beers, pisco sour is the most popular cocktail here. Some restaurants also served pisco sour as welcome drink. Like its name it tastes sour mixed with lime, egg white and pisco. Both Peru and Chile have claimed that this is their national drink and people from these two countries can get into a serious fight when arguing on this topic. Another Peruvian national drink is Inca Kola, a yellowish drink tastes like bubble gum, but it will make your stomach feels good after having the rich Peruvian food. Even Mc Donalds are selling Inca Kola.
There are still a lot to share when it comes to Peruvian food, and there are still many that I have not tried yet. Hopefully in Part 2 can write more about Peruvian food. It is actually a very unique cuisine like and unfortunately not widely recognized internationally. It should have got the same attention like Thai, Indian or Japanese food. Perhaps the Peruvian government
Chaufa Chaufa Chaufa!
This is a personal plate but more than enoguh for three persons, and it only costs around 4soles! has to put more afford into it.
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Elena_Alexia
Elena
Coool!!!
Gees Louise!!! Those pics r torture for my eyes and senses....Everything looks delicious. Hope u tried them all.. I know I would have....Enjoy ur journey!