Name: Chairo cusqueño, classic-style beef and lamb
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 102 min
Total time: 607 min
Cuisine: Peruvian cuisine
Ingredients: 350 g boneless beef chuck, 3 cm cubes; 300 g boneless lamb shoulder, 3 cm cubes; 1900 ml water, for the soup; 150 g cooked wheat berries, fully cooked, cooled; 80 g dry chuño, soak in water as directed, discard soak water; 2000 ml water, for chuño soaking (1200 ml) and two rinses (400 ml each); discard; 320 g potatoes, peeled, 2 cm dice; 180 g pumpkin, peeled, 2 cm dice; 160 g shelled broad beans; 120 g red onion, finely diced; 15 g garlic, minced; 18 ml vegetable oil; 5 g salt; 2 g ground cumin; 8 g fresh mint, chopped; 2 g dried oregano

Chairo cusqueño, classic-style beef and lamb — complete home recipe

Yield 6 servings

Prep 25 minutes

Cook 102 minutes

Passive 480 minutes

Total 607 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Chairo cusqueño, classic-style beef and lamb — complete home recipe

Chairo is among the soups described in Cusco’s Andean repertoire. It is substantial rather than clear: pieces of meat, rehydrated chuño, grain and potato give each spoonful texture. Chuño is an Andean freeze-dried potato that needs soaking and thorough rinsing to lose excess harshness and regain a tender centre.

This classic-style Cusco family-pot adaptation uses both beef and lamb along with already cooked wheat, broad beans and pumpkin. The combination reflects documented chairo ingredients without asserting a single original, protected or standardised recipe. Starting with cooked wheat removes the need for a separate lengthy grain simmer.

Make the soup gently: vigorous boiling can break down the potato before the meat softens. The soaked chuño should stay distinct, while the potato helps thicken the surrounding broth. Mint and oregano are finishing aromatics rather than replacements for the meat-and-grain foundation.

Ingredients

Meat and broth

350 g boneless beef chuck, 3 cm cubes
300 g boneless lamb shoulder, 3 cm cubes
1900 ml water, for the soup
150 g cooked wheat berries, fully cooked, cooled
80 g dry chuño, soak in water as directed, discard soak water
2000 ml water, for chuño soaking (1200 ml) and two rinses (400 ml each); discard

Vegetables and seasoning

320 g potatoes, peeled, 2 cm dice
180 g pumpkin, peeled, 2 cm dice
160 g shelled broad beans
120 g red onion, finely diced
15 g garlic, minced
18 ml vegetable oil
5 g salt
2 g ground cumin
8 g fresh mint, chopped
2 g dried oregano

Method

Soak and rinse the chuño.Cover 80 g dry chuño with 1200 ml cold water and refrigerate for 480 minutes. Drain, squeeze gently, rinse twice in separate 400 ml portions of clean water, discard the rinse liquid and chop into small pieces. The rehydrated chuño is pliable, with no hard dry centre. Soak in the refrigerator, not on a warm counter.
Soften the seasoning.Warm all 18 ml vegetable oil in a large soup pot; add all 120 g onion, 15 g garlic and 2 g cumin. Stir over medium heat for 8 minutes. The onion is soft, fragrant and not darkened.
Cook the meat and broth.Add 350 g beef chuck and 300 g lamb shoulder and all 1900 ml soup water to the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, skim any foam and cook for 60 minutes with a loose lid. The broth smells meaty and a fork begins to enter the larger meat pieces. Do not sample meat until it reaches the safe final temperature.
Simmer wheat, potato and chuño.Add 150 g cooked wheat, 320 g potato pieces, 80 g soaked chuño and 180 g pumpkin to the simmering broth. Cook 20 minutes. The potato breaks with a fork and the chuño is tender through the centre.
Cook the final vegetables.Add 160 g shelled broad beans and cook gently for 10 minutes. Stir so the soup remains thick but fluid. The last vegetables are fully tender and the broth flows off a ladle in a thick stream.
Season and finish safely.Add 5 g salt and 8 g fresh mint and 2 g dried oregano, stir for 4 minutes, and check the centre of the largest meat chunk reaches at least 74 °C before serving hot. A spoonful contains tender grain, potato, chuño and meat, and the meat reads at least 74 °C. Conservative mixed-soup meat endpoint 74 °C, measured away from bone.

Practical

Serving, storage and substitutions

Cooked wheat berries must be already soft before they go into the pot; they are not dry grain that will cook in twenty minutes. Soaked chuño that remains hard at its centre needs more time in the clean cooking broth, not a shorter soak. Portion leftovers into shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours; reheat thoroughly to 74 °C. Lamb gives a fuller broth than an all-beef version, so removing it changes the soup rather than reproducing this classic-style combination.

Control points

Chuño remains grittyIt was not soaked or rinsed enough. Allow the full refrigerated soaking period, rinse well and simmer until the centre softens.
Broth becomes heavy pasteToo much potato has broken down. Stir gently rather than boiling vigorously, keeping the listed water ratio.

Nutrition per 1 of 6 servings (approximate)

Serving size1 of 6 servings
Calories355 kcal
Carbohydrates34 g
Protein29 g
Fat12 g
Fibre6 g
Sodium450 mg

Allergens and food safety

Soak dried chuño in clean water under refrigeration at 4 °C or below and discard the soaking water. Keep lamb and beef portions separated from clean herb-handling utensils. Use a food thermometer to check the thickest meat reaches 74 °C as a conservative mixed-soup target. Cool soup promptly in small, shallow containers, refrigerate at 4 °C or below within 2 hours and use within 3–4 days. Reheat leftovers to 74 °C. Contains wheat (gluten). Check any packaged cooked wheat or seasoning for other labelled allergens.

Closing

In the bowl or on the plate: A substantial Cusco-style soup of beef, lamb, chuño, wheat and broad beans.
The decisive control: The last vegetables are fully tender and the broth flows off a ladle in a thick stream.