Peru is a country that has given the world one of the most vibrant and diverse cuisines on the planet. Today we'll prepare the iconic dishes that Peruvians are truly proud of: fresh ceviche, spicy anticuchos, and golden picarones.
🐟 Ceviche
Peru's most iconic dish — raw fish "cooked" in lime juice to a tender texture, with crunchy onion, hot pepper, and fresh cilantro. Bright, refreshing, with a balance of acidity and heat.
Ingredients:
• White fish fillet (sea bass, halibut, or cod) — 500 g
• Limes — 8-10 (for 200 ml juice)
• Red onion — 1 medium
• Chili pepper (jalapeño or serrano) — 1-2
• Fresh cilantro — large bunch
• Garlic — 2 cloves
• Ginger root — 1 cm piece
• Sweet potato — 2 medium
• Corn — 2 cooked ears
• Salt — to taste
• Black pepper — pinch
• Ice — for chilling
Preparation:
Fish prep. Examine the fish fillet thoroughly for bones, remove all small bones with tweezers. Cut the fish into cubes strictly 1.5×1.5 cm — geometry matters for even "cooking" in the acid. Place the cubes in a glass or ceramic bowl (metal oxidizes), put in the refrigerator.
Making 'leche de tigre' (tiger's milk). Squeeze juice from the limes — you should get 200 ml of pure juice without pulp. In a blender, place 50 ml lime juice, 2 garlic cloves, ginger piece, half the chili pepper (without seeds for moderate heat), a small piece of fish (20 g), pinch of salt. Blend until smooth milky-colored emulsion — this is the marinade base. Strain through a fine sieve, mix with the remaining lime juice.
Vegetable prep. Cut red onion into thin half-moons (2-3 mm), rinse under ice water for 2-3 minutes, squeezing with your hands — the bitterness should completely disappear, the onion will become crunchy and slightly sweet. Slice the remaining chili pepper into thin rings. Coarsely chop the cilantro — stems and leaves separately.
Marinating. 5-7 minutes before serving (not earlier!) take the fish out of the refrigerator. Add leche de tigre to it, mix with a silicone spatula. The fish should turn white on the outside but remain translucent inside after 3-4 minutes. Add onion, chili pepper, cilantro stems, mix. Taste — the balance should be between bright acidity, light heat, and freshness.
Garnish. Boil sweet potato in its skin until soft (knife enters freely, 20-25 minutes), cool, peel, cut into 1 cm thick rounds. Cut corn crosswise into 2-3 cm high discs.
Plating. On chilled plates, arrange ceviche with the marinade (it should cover the fish 2/3 of the way). Place sweet potato rounds and corn around the edges. Generously sprinkle with cilantro leaves. Serve immediately — ceviche doesn't wait, the fish continues to "cook" in the acid.
Doneness criterion. Fish is matte white outside, with light translucency inside, texture is firm but not rubbery. Marinade is bright, with pronounced lime acidity and cilantro aroma.
💡 Fact: Ceviche is so important to Peruvian culture that the country has an official "Ceviche Day" — June 28. In Lima there's a monument to this dish.
🍢 Anticuchos de Corazón
Spicy beef heart skewers, marinated in a hot sauce with vinegar and spices, grilled to a crispy crust. Tender inside, aromatic, with a hint of grill smoke and light heat.
Ingredients:
• Beef heart — 600 g
• Red wine vinegar — 100 ml
• Vegetable oil — 4 tbsp
• Smoked paprika — 2 tbsp
• Sweet paprika — 1 tbsp
• Ground cumin — 1 tsp
• Dried oregano — 1 tsp
• Garlic — 6 cloves
• Ground chili pepper (or flakes) — 1 tsp
• Salt — 1.5 tsp
• Black pepper — 0.5 tsp
• Potatoes — 4 medium
• Corn — 1 ear
• Wooden skewers — 8-10
Preparation:
Heart prep. Rinse the beef heart under cold water, remove all fatty membranes, vessels, and tough parts — only clean dark red muscle tissue should remain. Cut the heart into 3×3 cm cubes — larger than regular kebab, since heart shrinks significantly during cooking. Pat dry with paper towel.
Marinade. In a mortar or blender, grind 6 garlic cloves with salt to a paste. In a deep bowl, mix garlic paste, wine vinegar, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, cumin, oregano, ground chili, black pepper. Mix until smooth — the marinade should be thick, dark red, with an intense spice aroma.
Marinating. Place heart cubes in the marinade, mix thoroughly with your hands so each piece is coated. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate for at least 3 hours, better overnight (8-12 hours). Stir periodically — the meat should be deeply infused.
Grilling prep. An hour before cooking, take the meat out of the refrigerator — it should warm to room temperature for even cooking. Soak wooden skewers in cold water for 30 minutes so they don't burn. Thread heart cubes onto skewers tightly, 5-6 pieces per skewer.
Garnish. Boil potatoes in their skins until done (25 minutes), drain water. Boil corn in salted water for 15 minutes until kernels are soft. Keep warm.
Grilling. Heat grill or grill pan on high heat until slight smoke appears. Brush the grate with remaining oil. Place skewers, grill for 3-4 minutes per side, turning four times — total 12-16 minutes. The meat should develop a dark caramelized crust with black grill marks but remain pink inside (medium doneness). Overcooked heart becomes tough.
Doneness criterion and serving. Press on a cube — it should be firm but springy. Crust dark, crispy, with the aroma of smoke and spices. Inside — pinkish-red color, juicy texture. Serve immediately with boiled potatoes (cut in half, add salt) and corn. Drizzle skewers with remaining marinade (heated to boiling).
💡 Fact: Anticuchos are an ancient Incan dish, where they cooked llama over fire. The modern version with beef heart appeared after Spanish colonization. Today it's Peru's main street food, especially popular in Lima.
🍩 Picarones
Golden fried doughnuts made from sweet potato and pumpkin, airy inside with a crispy crust, drizzled with thick syrup from cane sugar with spices. Sweet, aromatic, with light anise notes.
Ingredients:
For the dough:
• Sweet potato — 300 g
• Pumpkin (butternut or muscat) — 300 g
• All-purpose flour — 400 g (+ for dusting)
• Dry yeast — 7 g (1 packet)
• Sugar — 2 tbsp
• Salt — 0.5 tsp
• Star anise — 2 stars (or 0.5 tsp seeds)
• Egg — 1
• Warm water — 50-100 ml (as needed)
• Vegetable oil for frying — 1 L
For the syrup (chancaca):
• Unrefined cane sugar (panela, muscovado, or dark brown) — 300 g
• Water — 200 ml
• Orange zest — from 1 orange
• Cinnamon stick — 1
• Cloves — 3 buds
• Star anise — 1
Preparation:
Vegetable prep. Peel sweet potato and pumpkin, cut into 3×3 cm cubes. Boil together in salted water until completely soft (fork enters without effort, 20-25 minutes). Drain water completely, let vegetables cool for 10 minutes, then mash into smooth purée without lumps — use a masher or fork, not a blender (need a light texture). Cool to room temperature.
Making the dough. In a small bowl, mix yeast with 2 tbsp sugar and 50 ml warm water (37-40°C), leave for 10 minutes until foam appears — this is a sign of activation. In a large bowl, mix vegetable purée (600 g), egg, salt, anise seeds (crush in mortar). Add yeast mixture, stir. Gradually add flour, mixing with a spoon — the dough should be very soft, sticky, but hold its shape. If too thick, add warm water 1 tbsp at a time. Cover with a damp towel, leave in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours until doubled in volume.
Making the syrup. In a thick-bottomed saucepan, combine cane sugar, water, orange zest (wide strips without white pith), cinnamon, cloves, anise. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar completely dissolves. Reduce heat to minimum, simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes until thickened — syrup should flow from spoon in a thick heavy stream and coat it with a film. Remove from heat, strain through sieve, removing spices. Keep warm.
Shaping picarones. Heat oil in a deep fryer or deep pot to 180°C (check with thermometer or drop a piece of dough — it should sizzle and float). Wet your hands with cold water or grease with oil. Take a handful of dough (about 80 g), form a ball, then poke a hole in the center with your finger, stretching into a ring 8-10 cm in diameter with a 3 cm hole — like a doughnut but with uneven edges.
Frying. Carefully lower the dough ring into the oil — it will immediately start bubbling and float. Fry for 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown, turning once with a slotted spoon. Don't overcrowd the fryer — fry 2-3 at a time, otherwise the oil temperature will drop. Remove with slotted spoon, place on paper towel to drain oil.
Doneness criterion. Picarones are deep amber-golden color, crust crispy and dry to touch, inside — airy porous texture. When tapped, the sound should be dull but not heavy. If too dark — oil overheated, if pale and soft — undercooked.
Serving. Arrange warm picarones on a plate, generously drizzle with warm syrup — it should soak the top layer but not completely saturate. Serve immediately while the crust crunches and the inside is warm. Eaten with hands, dipping into additional syrup.
💡 Fact: Picarones appeared in colonial times as Peru's answer to Spanish 'buñuelos'. Afro-Peruvian cooks added local sweet potato and pumpkin to the dough, creating a unique dish. Today they're sold by street vendors with the characteristic cry 'Picaroneeeero!'.