Name: Tacacho con cecina sanmartinense
Prep time: 28 min
Cook time: 31 min
Total time: 59 min
Cuisine: Peruvian cuisine
Ingredients: 1100 g very green cooking plantain, peeled, cut into thick pieces. Bellaco type preferred; net peeled weight; 45 g rendered pork fat, measured. Into hot mashed plantain; 100 g pork chicharrón, fully cooked, finely chopped. Crisp pork crackling; incorporated; 500 g smoked pork cecina, refrigerated ready-to-cook pork slices. Do not treat as ready to eat; 30 ml vegetable oil, measured. For browning plantain and cecina; actual retention is lower; 3 g fine salt, measured. Mostly for plantain; cecina is already salted; 180 g cocona fruit, peeled, deseeded and diced. Amazonian tart fruit; no substitution assumed; 60 g red onion, finely diced. For relish; 8 g ají charapita, stemmed and finely chopped. Very hot Amazonian chilli; control contact; 12 g culantro coriander leaves, finely chopped. For relish

Tacacho con cecina sanmartinense — Peruvian home recipe

Yield 4 portions

Prep time 28 minutes

Cook time 31 minutes

Passive time 0 minutes

Total time 59 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Tacacho con cecina sanmartinense — Peruvian home recipe

Tacacho and cecina are two distinct components of a Peruvian Amazonian plate. The tacacho starts with cooking-type green plantain, which is crushed while it is still hot and bound with rendered pork fat. The cecina is a separate piece of smoked, salted meat rather than a garnish mixed invisibly into the mash. The San Martín association identifies a regional context without claiming that every household follows a single formula.

Use very green, starchy bellaco-type plantain: a sweet ripe banana or yellow dessert plantain softens differently and produces the wrong texture. Small crisp pieces of pork chicharrón should remain perceptible through the mash, and the fat helps the warm plantain come together in rough balls without the addition of flour. A sturdy masher or pestle gives more control than processing to a smooth purée.

Cecina sold in different markets can vary in curing, smoking and cooking status. This preparation uses refrigerated, ready-to-cook smoked pork cecina and heats it to a measured safe endpoint, without assuming the smoking step made it ready to eat. A fresh cocona and ají charapita mixture, served separately, contrasts with the rich plantain and salty meat.

Ingredients

Plantain and pork

1100 g very green cooking plantain, peeled, cut into thick pieces. Bellaco type preferred; net peeled weight
45 g rendered pork fat, measured. Into hot mashed plantain
100 g pork chicharrón, fully cooked, finely chopped. Crisp pork crackling; incorporated
500 g smoked pork cecina, refrigerated ready-to-cook pork slices. Do not treat as ready to eat
30 ml vegetable oil, measured. For browning plantain and cecina; actual retention is lower
3 g fine salt, measured. Mostly for plantain; cecina is already salted

Cocona relish

180 g cocona fruit, peeled, deseeded and diced. Amazonian tart fruit; no substitution assumed
60 g red onion, finely diced. For relish
8 g ají charapita, stemmed and finely chopped. Very hot Amazonian chilli; control contact
12 g culantro coriander leaves, finely chopped. For relish

Method

Cut and organise the plantain.Using a sharp knife on a stable board, peel and cut the 1100 g of green cooking plantain into thick pieces; dice the cocona and onion on a separate clean board, and keep the raw cecina apart from the ready-to-eat relish. The plantain pieces are similar in thickness and the relish vegetables are evenly diced.
Cook the plantain through.Heat 20 ml of the vegetable oil in a wide covered pan over medium-low heat. Add the plantain pieces, turn them periodically and cook for 20 minutes, keeping them covered for the first 14 minutes to soften the centres. A knife passes through the centre of every plantain piece without meeting a chalky core.
Pound and shape the tacacho.Transfer the hot plantain to a heavy bowl; add all 45 g pork fat, 100 g chopped chicharrón and 3 g salt. Pound until the pieces hold together while retaining small coarse fragments; form four compact portions. Each ball stays together when lifted, with small crisp pieces distributed throughout.
Heat the smoked cecina safely.Heat the remaining 10 ml oil in a second pan over medium heat and cook the 500 g chilled ready-to-cook cecina for 8 minutes, turning the slices. Use a food thermometer at the thickest part and continue cooking if needed. The slices are heated right through and remain pliable rather than hard or blackened. The centre of the cecina must reach 74 °C before serving.
Stir the relish.In a clean bowl mix the 180 g cocona, 60 g onion, 8 g charapita and 12 g chopped culantro. Keep the relish separate from surfaces and tools used for uncooked pork. The fruit and aromatics are evenly mixed without losing their fresh texture.
Plate promptly.Put one tacacho portion beside one quarter of the hot cecina and offer the cocona relish in a separate small dish. The mashed plantain holds its rounded shape beside visibly separate meat and relish.

Practical

Success points

Mash the plantain while hot; cooler starch becomes harder to compress. Do not rely on the surface colour of smoked meat as proof that it is cooked.

Practical guidance

Serve immediately while the plantain is warm enough to remain supple. If the cecina is sold already fully cooked, follow that product’s reheating directions rather than assuming every smoked product is interchangeable. Do not dry or smoke raw pork at home as an improvised preservation method; this is a cooking recipe for a commercially prepared refrigerated product. Refrigerate perishable leftovers promptly in shallow containers at 4 °C or colder within 2 hours and use within 3–4 days; reheat to 74 °C. The fresh relish is best made shortly before eating.

Control points

Tacacho crumblesThe plantain was not sufficiently cooked or was allowed to become cold. Mash the pieces while thoroughly soft and hot.
Cecina turns leatheryIt has spent too long over strong heat. Use a moderate pan and verify its endpoint with a thermometer instead of frying until dry.

Nutrition per serving (estimated)

Serving size1 of 4 equal plated portions
Calories975 kcal
Carbohydrate93 g
Protein45 g
Fat47 g
Fibre8 g
Sodium1320 mg

Allergens and food safety

Pork; check bought chicharrón and cecina for additional declared allergens and shared equipment. Maintain separation between raw meat or fish, clean equipment and ready-to-eat ingredients; wash hands and tools after contact with raw animal food. Chill perishable food promptly in shallow covered containers at 4 °C or below and within 2 hours; avoid prolonged room-temperature standing. Cooked leftovers, when permitted by the recipe-specific guidance, must be reheated to 74 °C. The centre of the cecina must reach 74 °C before serving. A smoked ready-to-cook pork product is not assumed to be fully cooked; check the measured temperature of this cecina.

Closing

Result: Firm green plantain is cooked and pounded with pork fat and chicharrón, then served with thoroughly heated smoked pork cecina and a sharp cocona relish.
Decisive control: Mash the plantain while hot; cooler starch becomes harder to compress.