Name: Cau cau
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 75 min
Cuisine: Peruvian cuisine
Ingredients: 700 g cleaned precooked beef tripe, fully cooked and cooled; cut into 1.5 cm cubes; 650 g white potatoes, peeled; cut into 2 cm cubes; 160 g red onion, finely diced; 12 g garlic, minced; 65 g ají amarillo paste; 3 g ground turmeric (palillo); 2 g ground cumin; 550 ml unsalted beef broth; 25 ml neutral oil; 7 g fine salt; 12 g fresh hierbabuena (spearmint), leaves chopped; 20 ml fresh lime juice

Peruvian cau cau with beef tripe, potatoes and mint

Yield 4 bowls

Prep time 25 minutes

Cook time 50 minutes

Passive time 0 minutes

Total time 75 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Peruvian cau cau with beef tripe, potatoes and mint

Cau cau is a recognizable Peruvian criollo stew in which mondongo, or beef tripe, and potatoes are cut into small cubes. Ají amarillo provides depth and colour, while hierbabuena supplies the herbal note that distinguishes the finished bowl from an ordinary potato stew.

Tripe preparation can otherwise dominate the schedule: raw mondongo needs an extended cleaning and tenderizing cook. This recipe therefore starts with fully precooked, cleaned beef tripe. It is still a tripe cau cau, but the choice should be visible when buying rather than leaving a home cook to discover the extra hours mid-recipe.

The potatoes and seasoned liquid create the texture naturally as their surfaces soften. Stir just enough to prevent sticking, rather than mashing the cubes. Add the spearmint at the end so the fresh, cool scent survives the simmering and balances the rich offal.

Ingredients

Stew

700 g cleaned precooked beef tripe, fully cooked and cooled; cut into 1.5 cm cubes
650 g white potatoes, peeled; cut into 2 cm cubes
160 g red onion, finely diced
12 g garlic, minced
65 g ají amarillo paste
3 g ground turmeric (palillo)
2 g ground cumin
550 ml unsalted beef broth
25 ml neutral oil
7 g fine salt
12 g fresh hierbabuena (spearmint), leaves chopped
20 ml fresh lime juice

Method

Cut the prepared tripe and potato.Check that the 700 g tripe is labelled cleaned and fully precooked; cut it into cubes. Peel and cube the 650 g potatoes evenly, then set them aside in a clean bowl. Tripe and potato are in similar bite-sized cubes and free of gritty surfaces. If only raw tripe is available, it requires a separate thorough cooking procedure and additional time.
Soften the aromatic base.In a heavy saucepan heat 25 ml oil; add 160 g onion and cook for 8 minutes over medium heat, stirring until soft. Add 12 g garlic and 2 g cumin for the final minute. The onion looks translucent and sweet-smelling without burnt edges.
Develop the yellow ají base.Stir in 65 g ají amarillo paste and 3 g turmeric. Cook for 5 minutes over low-to-medium heat, scraping the pan so the paste does not catch. The mixture thickens and releases a rounded chilli aroma instead of smelling raw.
Simmer the potatoes.Add 650 g diced potato, 550 ml broth and 7 g salt. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook covered for 18 minutes, stirring occasionally. The potato edges become tender and a knife enters most pieces with light resistance.
Heat tripe through and thicken.Fold in the 700 g precooked tripe and simmer uncovered for 19 minutes, stirring carefully until the potatoes release a little starch and the sauce loosely coats a spoon. The potato centres are fully tender, tripe is hot throughout and the sauce has body without drying out. Bring precooked offal thoroughly to a steaming hot serving temperature.
Add fresh spearmint and lime.Turn off the heat. Stir in 12 g chopped hierbabuena and 20 ml lime juice, leaving some mint visible at the surface. The stew smells distinctly minty and the sauce remains vivid yellow.
Serve as a moist stew.Ladle into four warmed bowls rather than reducing the sauce until dry. Distribute potato and tripe evenly through the yellow gravy. Every bowl contains tripe, potatoes and spoon-coating sauce.

Practical

Success points

Use fully precooked cleaned tripe for the stated preparation time. Maintain a gentle simmer so potato cubes stay recognizable. Fold in spearmint only at the end, after the lengthy simmer.

Practical guidance

Offer as a warm bowlful with its own lightly thickened yellow gravy. Rice is a common accompaniment, but it is not included in the measured serving and would change the nutrition estimate. The concentrated flavour of hierbabuena is part of the stew itself. The onion and chilli base can be prepared in advance and chilled promptly. The finished stew should also be cooled in shallow containers and refrigerated at 4 °C or below rather than left in a large covered hot pot. Eat refrigerated leftovers within three days, reheating only the portion needed until thoroughly steaming. A little thickening is normal because the potatoes continue to absorb liquid after cooling; do not compensate with an unlisted amount of broth. This is a beef-tripe dish. Replacing the offal with diced chicken or mushrooms would produce a different stew and should be labelled as a variation, not an indistinguishable substitute.

Control points

Watery brothThe potatoes are still firm or the simmer was too brief. Continue gently until a few surfaces soften.
Potatoes disintegrateThe pot was boiled hard or stirred repeatedly. Reduce to a quiet simmer and move the spoon gently.

Nutrition per serving

Serving sizeone bowl (about 440 g)
Calories400 kcal
Carbohydrates43 g
Protein29 g
Fat13 g
Fibre5 g
Sodium770 mg

Allergens and food safety

No major regulated allergen deliberately added; verify commercial broth ingredients and handling. Buy cleaned fully precooked tripe and maintain refrigerator temperatures until cooking. Reheat precooked tripe to steaming hot, avoid raw-food cross-contact, and chill leftovers promptly.

Closing

Result: Yellow stew of diced cooked beef tripe and potatoes with ají amarillo and hierbabuena.
Key control: Use fully precooked cleaned tripe for the stated preparation time.