Name: Chairo cusqueño with Andean tubers and corn
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 102 min
Total time: 607 min
Cuisine: Peruvian cuisine
Ingredients: 450 g boneless beef chuck, 3 cm pieces; 200 g boneless lamb shoulder, 3 cm pieces; 1900 ml water; 140 g cooked wheat berries; 90 g dry chuño, soak 8 hours and rinse; 2000 ml water, for chuño soaking (1200 ml) and two rinses (400 ml each); discard; 250 g yellow potatoes, 2 cm dice; 220 g olluco tubers, washed and sliced 1 cm thick; 200 g cooked choclo kernels, fully cooked; 160 g broad beans, shelled; 110 g red onion, diced; 15 g garlic, minced; 20 g ají amarillo paste; 20 ml vegetable oil; 5 g salt; 2 g ground cumin; 12 g fresh mint, chopped

Chairo cusqueño with Andean tubers and corn — complete home recipe

Yield 6 servings

Prep 25 minutes

Cook 102 minutes

Passive 480 minutes

Total 607 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Chairo cusqueño with Andean tubers and corn — complete home recipe

In chairo, locally familiar roots and grains carry much of the character. This Cusco-style formulation uses chuño, fresh potato and olluco, a slender Andean tuber with a pleasant, slightly firm bite. It also contains cooked wheat and choclo so neither the potato nor the corn takes over the soup.

The meat broth uses beef and a smaller quantity of lamb; the vegetables are added in stages so the olluco remains identifiable. These are ingredients found across Andean chairo recipes, not an assertion that all Cusco versions use precisely this list. The name describes an ingredient emphasis rather than a claim to geographically protected products.

Olluco generally needs less cooking time than whole dried wheat. Use the specified cooked wheat and cut the olluco into even slices, placing it later than the meat. Rehydrated chuño has a unique texture even after a long soak, and replacing it with ordinary potatoes would give a different soup.

Ingredients

Meat, grain and liquid

450 g boneless beef chuck, 3 cm pieces
200 g boneless lamb shoulder, 3 cm pieces
1900 ml water
140 g cooked wheat berries
90 g dry chuño, soak 8 hours and rinse
2000 ml water, for chuño soaking (1200 ml) and two rinses (400 ml each); discard

Andean vegetables

250 g yellow potatoes, 2 cm dice
220 g olluco tubers, washed and sliced 1 cm thick
200 g cooked choclo kernels, fully cooked
160 g broad beans, shelled
110 g red onion, diced
15 g garlic, minced
20 g ají amarillo paste
20 ml vegetable oil
5 g salt
2 g ground cumin
12 g fresh mint, chopped

Method

Soak and rinse the chuño.Cover 90 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.Pour all 20 ml vegetable oil into the soup pot; sweat 110 g red onion and 15 g garlic with 2 g cumin, then fold in 20 g ají amarillo paste and stir for 8 minutes on medium heat. The onion is soft, fragrant and not darkened.
Cook the meat and broth.Add 450 g beef chuck and 200 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 140 g cooked wheat, 250 g potato pieces, 90 g soaked chuño and 220 g sliced olluco 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.Slip 160 g shelled broad beans and 200 g fully cooked choclo kernels into the gently bubbling soup; cook 10 minutes without hard boiling. 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 12 g fresh mint, 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

Rinse the tubers thoroughly, but peel only what the ingredient list requires. Cooked choclo kernels and wheat are additions to heat through, not grains to soften from dry. A bowl should contain tender olluco slices, distinct chuño and whole maize kernels. For later meals, refrigerate at 4 °C or below in shallow containers within 2 hours; use within 3–4 days and reheat to 74 °C. Ordinary potato is not an equivalent for olluco or chuño, so a replacement changes the planned texture.

Control points

Olluco disappears into soupIt was sliced too thin or boiled too fast. Use 1 cm slices and keep a gentle simmer.
Chuño tastes harshSoaking water was retained or rinse was short. Drain and rinse thoroughly before cooking in fresh soup liquid.

Nutrition per 1 of 6 servings (approximate)

Serving size1 of 6 servings
Calories430 kcal
Carbohydrates46 g
Protein32 g
Fat13 g
Fibre7 g
Sodium470 mg

Allergens and food safety

Soak dried chuño in clean water under refrigeration at 4 °C or below and discard the soaking water. Rinse olluco and potatoes under running water before cutting them. 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: Chuño and wheat soup with beef, lamb, olluco, potato and choclo.
The decisive control: The last vegetables are fully tender and the broth flows off a ladle in a thick stream.