If you find fresh ají amarillo or rocoto peppers or a bag of the frozen peppers (see page 22), consider making homemade paste as I usually do. (If you can only find whole jarred or canned peppers, I recommend buying the premade paste instead, which is very good quality and is what is called for in the recipes in this book. The brine the jarred and canned peppers are stored in diminishes their flavor.)
If making your own, keep in mind that the heat of homemade pastes varies depending on the peppers, but it is usually not as strong as the store-bought pastes. Frozen peppers can also lose some of their heat over time, and I add a little olive oil to my version for a more balanced flavor (the jarred versions are usually purely pureed peppers with a pinch of salt and citric acid as a preservative). Start with about one-third more homemade paste to the store-bought amounts listed in my recipes, then add more homemade paste to taste. So, if a recipe calls for 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of store-bought paste, start with 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of fresh ají amarillo paste. With any produce, it’s never an exact science, so let your tongue be the judge.
Blanching tames the heat just enough and makes the peppers easier to peel. It’s a good idea to wear plastic gloves as you clean the peppers. The heat can do a number on your skin if you forget you’ve handled the peppers and touch your face.
1 To make Pepper Paste: Slice about 1 pound (10 to 12 large) fresh or thawed frozen ají amarillo or rocoto peppers in half lengthwise. Remove the stems, lay the peppers flat on a work surface, and use a spoon to gently scrape out the seeds and most of the veins. Don’t go overboard on scraping, or you won’t have much flesh left. Fill a medium pot halfway with water, bring to a boil, and blanch the peppers for exactly 2 minutes. Strain, rinse the peppers under cold water for a minute or two, and let cool completely.
2 Peel the cooled peppers, discard the skins, and lay the peppers on a kitchen towel or paper towels to absorb some of the excess water (do not fully dry them). Put the peppers in a blender and puree until chunky. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil until the mixture turns into a smooth puree. If you don’t have a professional-style blender, you may need to add another tablespoon or two of olive oil to get things going.
3 Spoon the paste into a glass jar and top it off with a good ½ inch of extra-virgin olive oil, cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks (as you use the paste, top it off with more olive oil). Or freeze the paste in a flat, thin layer in a medium plastic food storage bag so you can break off small pieces as needed. Makes about 1 cup.
The jarred versions of dried pepper pastes like ají panca are typically very good quality, but if you do find the dried peppers at a good spice shop or Latin market, by all means, make your own paste. In the recipes in this book, I only use ají panca (not mirasol, the dried version of ají amarillo peppers), as it adds a unique smoky flavor to dishes. If you find ají mirasol, you can also turn them into a paste with this recipe. Compared to fresh ají amarillo peppers, the dried version has a more concentrated flavor that is similar to dried tomatoes versus fresh tomatoes. (A tablespoon or two of ají mirasol paste is great in meaty stews or bean dishes, or add a little more olive oil to make a sauce for meats, as you might a sun-dried tomato sauce.) Just don’t substitute ají mirasol for ají panca paste in recipes in this book. The flavors are very different.
Unlike fresh pepper pastes like ají amarillo, pastes made from dried peppers tend to be around the same heat index or a little hotter than the store-bought versions, especially if you leave behind a few seeds or interior membranes. Use equal amounts of the homemade paste as the jarred in the recipes, or start with a little less if you are concerned about the heat.
1 To make Pepper Paste: Place 3 to 4 ounces dried, whole ají panca or mirasol peppers (18 to 24 medium peppers, if using ají panca) in a medium bowl. Add enough simmering hot water to cover the peppers, and place another bowl on top. (If needed, use a canned product to weigh down the bowl so the peppers are fully submerged.) Soak the peppers until softened, at least 6 hours or preferably overnight. Strain, and reserve the soaking water. Remove the stems from the peppers, open them up, and scrape out all of the seeds and the interior membranes to tame the heat. Rinse the peppers under running water to remove any lingering seeds.
2 Put the peppers in a blender along with ¼ cup of the reserved water and puree until chunky. If necessary, add another tablespoon of reserved water. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil until the mixture turns into a smooth puree. If you don’t have a professional-style blender, you may need to turn off the blender and stir the mixture with a spoon a few times to get things going. If necessary, add another tablespoon or two of olive oil.
3 Spoon the paste into a glass jar and top it off with a good ½ inch of extra-virgin olive oil, cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks (as you use the paste, top it off with more olive oil). You can also freeze the paste in a flat, thin layer in a medium plastic food storage bag so you can break off small pieces as needed. Makes 1¼ to 1½ cups, depending on the number of peppers used.
Keep pureed garlic and ginger in the refrigerator, and spoon out a dollop when needed, or freeze the puree for even longer storage. (Store-bought jarred garlic pastes have a very flat, musty flavor, so they’re not good substitutes.) If you only need a small amount, use the quick grated method below, but it’s so easy to make a big batch and freeze the pastes. If you only need a little, or don’t have enough cloves or ginger around to make a full batch, make the quick version. Keep in mind that in cooked recipes, the quick method is much more forgiving with ginger, since it doesn’t tend to burn at high heat like garlic.
1 To make Pureed Garlic or Ginger: Combine about 1¼ cups peeled garlic cloves (4 to 5 heads) or 1 cup roughly chopped peeled fresh ginger in a blender with 3 tablespoons water. Puree the garlic or ginger until finely chopped. With the blender running, slowly drizzle in 3 tablespoons olive oil until you have a smooth, fluffy puree. Store the puree in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or freeze the puree in a flat, thin layer in a medium plastic food storage bag so you can break off small pieces as needed. Makes about 1 cup.
2 Quick Grated Garlic or Ginger: With a Microplane zester, very finely grate 1 large or 2 small cloves garlic or about ½ inch peeled fresh ginger (be careful when your fingers get close to the zester). Mix in about ¼ teaspoon olive oil to make a paste. Makes ½ to ¾ teaspoon, or however much you need.
Garlic chips are a simple way to make a crunchy, flavorful topping for vegetables, meat, or seafood dishes.
To make Garlic Chips: Thinly slice 6 to 8 large cloves of garlic. Fill a medium saucepan with 1 inch of olive oil, and heat over medium heat until warm but not bubbling. Add the garlic and cook, swirling the garlic chips around in the pan occasionally until they turn light golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove any chips that turn brown before the others, and transfer them to a paper towel–lined plate. When the rest of the garlic chips have turned light brown, drain them over a bowl to reserve the oil. Reuse the oil to fry another batch or to sauté chicken or vegetables. Store the garlic chips at room temperature, uncovered, for up to 8 hours. Makes a small handful of garlic chips.
Fresh yuzu is difficult to find outside of Japan (see Resources for sources), so I use frozen unsweetened and unsalted yuzu juice (check the label carefully). When a recipe calls for a small quantity of yuzu juice, only a tablespoon or two, you can substitute fresh lime juice. For sauces that rely on a large amount of yuzu juice, like ponzu (recipe), I use a ratio of roughly 60 percent fresh orange juice to 40 percent fresh lime juice, or about ⅓ cup orange juice to ¼ cup lime juice.
Homemade Japanese ponzu is nothing like the bottled, store-bought sauce, which, to me, tastes like a really bad fast-food sauce. In Japan, many home cooks make their own by infusing briny ocean flavors like kombu seaweed and bonito flakes (see Resources) into citrusy yuzu juice, soy sauce, and rice wine. Make it yourself, and you’ll understand why. You stand by while the ingredients do all of the hard work (the longer you let the flavors infuse, the better—up to 1 month). The sauce keeps for several months in the fridge, so I don’t want to hear any excuses.
1 To make Ponzu: Gently wipe a roughly 5-inch square of kombu seaweed with a damp kitchen towel to remove the white, salty residue. Place the kombu in a large food storage container or bowl and add 3 cups thawed frozen unsweetened yuzu juice (or substitute 1¾ cups fresh orange juice and 1¼ cups fresh lime juice), 1½ cups soy sauce (preferably a good-quality Japanese brand like Yamasa), ⅓ cup mirin, ⅓ cup sake, ½ cup bonito flakes, and 1 medium orange, sliced into 5 rings (discard both ends). Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 week or up to 1 month to allow the flavors to meld.
2 Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer. Occasionally remove the bonito flakes that accumulate at the bottom of the strainer. Cover and refrigerate the ponzu for up to 4 to 5 months. Makes about 4½ cups.