Picarones

Sweet Potato & Squash Beignets with Chancaca Sauce

If you luck into a picaronera vendor on the streets while you are visiting Peru, change whatever plans you have and wait in line. Machu Picchu isn’t going anywhere. The sweet potato–pumpkin fritter vendor, on the other hand, only sticks around as long as there is enough batter to fry up. The batter is shaped into bracelet-size loops and deep-fried, then piled into a bag or onto a paper plate and served with chancaca, a cane sugar sauce seasoned with cinnamon and other spices.

If you are making kabocha squash for something else, like grilled kabocha (page 189), save a chunk to make these doughnuts. In Peru, the doughnuts are usually served as a snack. But since you can also make the batter the night before, the recipe is weekend-breakfast friendly—or what you call brunch (we still consider that breakfast). Just be Peruvian about it and eat the doughnuts straight out of the fryer basket.

Instead of ricing the vegetables, you can mash the squash and potatoes by hand like my mom used to do, and then mix in the flour and other ingredients. The texture will be a little chunkier than if you use a ricer and stand mixer, but they will still taste great. And don’t be tempted to skip the kabocha squash. It keeps the batter light; all sweet potato would make the doughnuts dense. The chancaca sauce is worth making, but if you can’t find it, maple syrup is also very good.

1 Roughly chop the peeled squash into 1-inch chunks. Do the same with the potato, keeping the vegetables in different piles. You should have about 1½ cups of each, but a little more or less of one or the other is fine.

2 Put the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, sugar, and squash in a medium saucepan. Add enough water to cover the squash by a solid inch and bring the water to boil. Reduce to a low boil and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Strain over a bowl to reserve the spiced cooking liquid and return the liquid, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise to the saucepan. Add the potatoes, along with another ½ cup or so of water, if needed, so they are covered, and boil the potatoes until tender, about 10 minutes. Strain and reserve the cooking liquid. While still warm, pass the squash and potatoes through a ricer into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or into a large bowl. Or smash the vegetables with a potato masher as finely as you can.

3 Add the yeast and about ⅔ cup of the reserved cooking liquid to the stand mixer or bowl. Mix the two together on low speed for a few seconds, or by hand with a spoon, and add the flour and salt. Continue to mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated, then add the egg. The dough should be sticky, like pancake batter; if it seems dry, add another splash of the cooking liquid. Mix the dough for 1½ to 2 minutes on low speed until smooth and even stickier, or use the spoon or your hands to knead the dough really well by hand for 5 minutes.

4 Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly rubbed with oil, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight, or set the dough aside in a warm spot to rise until more than doubled, a good hour, then refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes before frying, or overnight if serving for breakfast.

5 Line a baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels. In a medium, deep saucepan, heat a solid 2 inches of oil to 350°F, or fill a deep fryer with the recommended amount of oil and set the temperature to 350°F. Use a frying thermometer or test the oil temperature with a small nub of batter; it should bubble vigorously (if the oil smokes, reduce the heat).

6 Place a small dish of water near the dough. To shape the fritters, dip your hands in the water and shake off the excess. Scoop up a golf ball–size round of dough (about 2 tablespoons, but exact measures aren’t important). Poke a hole in the center with your thumb, then use your fingers to roughly shape the dough into a doughnut shape about 3 inches in diameter. The dough is very sticky, so the edges will be roughly finished and prickly looking.

7 Carefully drop the dough ring into the hot oil, wipe off your hands, and fry the doughnut until it browns on the bottom, about 1 minute. Flip and fry the opposite side until lightly browned, 30 seconds or so more. If either side ever becomes dark brown very quickly, reduce the heat. Meanwhile, dip your hands in water again and shape 2 or 3 more fritters. Carefully drop them in the oil, but don’t crowd the pan. By the time you finish, the first fritter should be turning golden brown. As they cook, transfer the fritters to the paper towel–lined baking sheet. Serve the fritters fresh from the fryer with a big bowl of warm chancaca sauce nearby for dipping.

Chancaca Sauce

Makes about 2½ cups

The sauce for picarones is made from chancaca (see page 263), a sugar similar to Mexican piloncillo. The figs are authentic but optional, and I like to add a little brown sugar to give the sauce a richer color and flavor. Make the sauce several days before you plan to serve it, if you can. The flavors only get better. Save leftovers for pancakes or waffles, or to sweeten your coffee or tea for the next few weeks.

As the water boils, the thick block of chancaca will warm up and break down more quickly if you help it along by mashing the sugar up with a spoon. Look for chancaca at Latin markets, or substitute piloncillo or panela.

1 Combine the chancaca, brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon, orange peel, figs (if using), and 3 cups water in a medium to large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and use a wood spoon to mash up the canchaca as it warms up.

2 Once the chancaca has fully melted, continue to cook the sauce, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened to a thin syrup, about 20 minutes. Let the sauce cool completely, cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. You can strain the spices and fruit immediately, or leave them to infuse for 3 to 4 days for even better flavor. To serve, rewarm the sauce over low heat, stirring often to avoid burning the sugar.