Name: Chairo
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 116 min
Total time: 621 min
Cuisine: Peruvian cuisine
Ingredients: 240 g black chuño — dry, food-grade, to soak and rinse; 130 g wheat berries — dry, separately soaked; 500 g boneless beef shin — cut into small pieces; 2100 ml water — 900 ml for soaking, 1200 ml for broth; soaking water discarded; 6 g salt — divided; 250 g potatoes — peeled and diced; 160 g winter squash — cubed; 150 g white cabbage — shredded; 140 g shelled broad beans — fresh or frozen, thawed; 100 g carrot — diced; 120 g red onion — finely chopped; 14 g garlic — minced; 25 g ají amarillo paste; 20 g sunflower oil; 3 g ground cumin; 15 g flat-leaf parsley — chopped

Chairo with chuño, beef, wheat and vegetables

Yield 4 servings

Prep time 25 minutes

Cook time 116 minutes

Passive time 480 minutes

Total time 621 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Chairo with chuño, beef, wheat and vegetables

Chairo is an Andean soup especially familiar in Puno and neighbouring highland cooking. Its characteristic ingredient is chuño, a potato preserved by freezing and drying, which softens and adds body once properly rehydrated. There are multiple combinations of beef, lamb, offal, wheat and vegetables.

This bowl brings beef shin and wheat together in a slowly simmered stock, then adds rinsed chuño and pieces of potato, squash, cabbage and broad beans. The final texture should show grains and small vegetable pieces suspended in broth rather than a homogeneous purée.

Chuño and wheat take more planning than the visible cooking time suggests. Soak them separately and rinse the chuño to remove strong residual flavours. Add delicate cabbage and beans later so that they soften but are not reduced to threads. The soup should remain ladleable after resting.

Ingredients

Soaking and meat

240 g black chuño — dry, food-grade, to soak and rinse
130 g wheat berries — dry, separately soaked
500 g boneless beef shin — cut into small pieces
2100 ml water — 900 ml for soaking, 1200 ml for broth; soaking water discarded
6 g salt — divided

Vegetables and seasoning

250 g potatoes — peeled and diced
160 g winter squash — cubed
150 g white cabbage — shredded
140 g shelled broad beans — fresh or frozen, thawed
100 g carrot — diced
120 g red onion — finely chopped
14 g garlic — minced
25 g ají amarillo paste
20 g sunflower oil
3 g ground cumin
15 g flat-leaf parsley — chopped

Method

Soak and rinse chuño.In separate covered bowls soak chuño in 500 ml and wheat in 400 ml water for 8 hours in the refrigerator. Drain both, rinse chuño thoroughly and break it into bite-size pieces. Chuño feels swollen rather than rock-hard and the grains are hydrated. Keep soaking ingredients refrigerated and discard both waters.
Build the aromatic base.Heat oil in a soup pot; soften onion, garlic, cumin and ají amarillo paste for 9 minutes over medium-low heat. The onion is translucent and the ají smells rounded, not raw.
Simmer wheat and beef.Add beef, soaked wheat and 1200 ml fresh water with 4 g salt; simmer covered for 70 minutes. The wheat begins to split and the beef yields to a fork. The beef should reach at least 63 °C with a three-minute rest before serving.
Cook the chuño and vegetables.Add chuño, potato, squash and carrot and simmer for 25 minutes with the lid ajar. Chuño has no hard centre and the squash is soft.
Finish with broad beans.Stir in cabbage and broad beans; cook 12 minutes, then finish with parsley and remaining 2 g salt. Beans are tender and cabbage is soft but still visible. The broth and beef must be steaming hot for service.

Practical

Success points

Cold-soak and rinse chuño thoroughly, then cook it until no hard centre remains.

Practical guidance

Dry chuño differs from ordinary fresh potatoes. Substituting a raw potato for it removes an important preservation-derived flavour and a distinctive starchy texture, so the name alone would not guarantee the same dish. Soaking is counted as passive time. Begin the night before; rinse the rehydrated chuño several times if the soaking water is strongly flavoured. Chairo thickens as it stands. Cool leftovers promptly, refrigerate, and use within three to four days. Heat to 74 °C and add a measured little water only if the reheated soup is unusually dense.

Control points

The chuño is chewy in the middleThe soaking or final simmer was insufficient. Continue cooking gently with the lid on until pieces are tender.
The soup becomes very thick overnightWheat and potatoes absorb broth. Reheat gently with a little water and bring the whole soup to 74 °C.

Nutrition per 1 of 4 servings

Serving size1 of 4 servings
Calories685 kcal
Carbohydrate94 g
Protein36 g
Fat18 g
Fibre10 g
Sodium800 mg

Allergens and food safety

Contains wheat/gluten from the wheat berries. Refrigerate soak water and ingredients; discard soak water. Cook beef completely and reheat leftovers to 74 °C.

Closing

What to expect: Tender chuño and wheat give the beef-and-vegetable broth its characteristic body.
Key control: Cold-soak and rinse chuño thoroughly, then cook it until no hard centre remains.