Cooking Peruvian Dishes with Quinoa
This year was declared the “International Year of Quinoa ” by the United Nations. Quinoa is a highly nutritious Andean grain, and the Peruvian Embassy in Beijing arranged for a special cooking demonstration for The Hutong’s very lucky team of chefs and foodies curious and keen to learn how to create both some traditional and fusion Peruvian dishes. They invited two talented chefs from The Westin Hotel in Lima, Peru to set aside a morning class of a dozen gourmands to taste diverse variations of the prized ingredient – quinoa.
Our charming and passionate Chinese-Peruvian chefs Francisco and Louis started off the cooking demonstration with a bold cocktail made from a blend of Pisco, egg white, lemon juice, sugar, and ice.
Introducing Pisco, the national spirit of Peru
Considering it was only 11am, we could only handle a small portion
Next up were cold mashed potato starters using an imported Peruvian pepper paste and topped with a range of chicken, crab and vegetarian option. Since the Peruvian pepper paste is the only ingredient that the chefs brought along with them (and is not sold in any store in Beijing), they recommended making our own version by grilling yellow peppers in aluminum foil over a flame, shaving off the skin and blending it into a puree with light seasonings.
Here’s what they demonstrated:
Mixing in their prized Peruvian Pepper Paste to flavor Mashed Potatoes
Using an Ice Cream Scoop to portion out servings
Version with Stir-fried Chicken Slices and Quinoa topped with Fresh Avocado Chunks
Vegetarian version with Diced Yellow Pepper, Quinoa & Scallions
While the first two creations were traditional Peruvian dishes, their main dish was a Peruvian-Chinese fusion dish, super healthy and light. The chefs substituted quinoa for the standard steamed rice used in a Chinese fried rice, mixing in a range of colorful red and yellow diced bell peppers with chicken, scrambled egg and topping it with green scallions.
Substituting Quinoa for Steamed Rice in a Chinese-Peruvian “Quinoa Stir-Fry”
Last but not least, came their Peruvian Quinoa Pudding Dessert.
Probably the dish that took the longest to prepare, this sweet concoction was a slow blend of fresh milk, condensed milk, coconut milk, quinoa (of course), shredded coconut, cinnamon bark, cloves, dried orange peels and brown coconut sugar. Topped with a dash of cinnamon and a couple of raisins, we short-cut the recommended 2-hour chill time to a quick dunk in ice water to do the trick.
Cold Quinoa Pudding Dessert
Inspired by our special guest chefs, stay tuned and keep your eyes out for some Peruvian-influenced cooking techniques or perhaps some cooking classes that incorporate this very versatile and delicious quinoa ingredient!
BIG THANKS to the Embassy of Peru for hosting such a valuable cooking demonstration for The Hutong! We look forward to spreading the love for delightful Peruvian cuisine!
