We Visited Inka Fé – Restaurant Review
This post is a sum up of our visit to Inka Fé, a Peruvian bakery in Great Neck, Long Island
“Caigua Rellena”
Caigua, stuffed with beef, and veggies, served over rice.
“Anticuchos”
Beef heart skewers, marinated in spices and in a Peruvian pepper paste, served with potatoes/corn with a spicy sauce.
“Seco de Mariscos”
“Seco de Mariscos”, is a creamy stew with some seafood, great aroma, and texture in one quick dish.
“Lasagna de Ají de Gallina”
Ají de Gallina (Creamy spicy hen stew) turned into a Lasagna
“Pollo a la Brasa”
Peruvian blackened chicken, rotisserie chicken, one of the most iconic Peruvian dishes.
“Causa Escabechada”
Causa Escabechada, Spicy Sour Potato dough, served with Fish Escabeche on top
“Chupe de Camarones”
Chupe de Camarones, Peruvian style shrimp soup, has a thick texture, has some sweet, spicy, flavors.
“Kam Lu Wantan”
Chifa dish, saute meats and veggies served with a sweet-sour tamarind sauce and wontons.
“Pan con Chicharron”
Pan con chicharron is a pork belly sandwich, full of textures and flavors!
“Carapulcra Pork & Potato Stew”
Peruvian Carapulcra is a dried potato stew, that has pork, peanuts on it full of flavor and history.
“Ajies Rellenos”
Peruvian style stuffed peppers (Peppers stuffed with Ají de Gallina)
“Leche Asada”
Peruvian style custard, Leche Asada
Hen Soup – “Caldo de Gallina”
Peruvian style Hen soup, simple and delicious!
¿En otro idioma? – Different lang?
Papa Rellena
Today we will be sharing the “Papa Rellena” Peruana recipe.
Papa Rellena are stuffed potato doughs, these doughs are traditionally stuffed with ground beef but nowadays it is stuffed with basically everything, it is served with Sarza criolla, a slice of lemon and a sort of “spicy sauce” but traditionally just with Sarza Criolla.
This dish is an entree and it is considered to be from the Capital (Lima), which means that it will be less likely to be found in the other regions of Peru.
As mentioned before this traditional dish is an entree, people started to add rice (yes I know rice!) to it and served it as a main dish, I am all about balanced meals if you want to eat Papa Rellena as a main dish please do not add rice, add a healthy and delicious salad instead.
This dish brings backs a lot of memories, When I was a kid my grandma used to prepare Papas Rellenas for special occasions such as birthdays, some holidays or celebrations since this dish requires some time to be prepared my mother and I used to help her, I was only a kid, they trusted me with “simple” stuff, I remember I was not that interested in learning how to “cook” but I enjoyed making this dish. people at home also loved this dish, it is my dad’s favorite, I prepared this dish for him a couple of times, he is the kind of person that will critique my food in a constructive (when he is not hungry) and I always appreciate that.
"Papa Rellena"
Ingredients
Papa Rellena Dough
- 1 lb o 500 gr of Potatoes
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 1 Eggyolk (optional)
Filling
- 2 tablespoons of Vegetable oil
- 1/2 lb o 250 gr of ground beef
- 1 Red Onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 Tablespoon of “Aji Panca paste”
- 1 Teaspoon of tomato paste
- 1/2 cup of raisins
- 1/2 cup of black olives in wedges or slices
- 3 tablespoons of minced parsley
- 2 Boiled egg cut into wedges
Aditional ingredients:
- 1 cup All Purpose flour
- 2 beaten eggs
- 2 cups Breadcrumbs
- Oil to deep fry
Instructions
Papa Rellena Dough
- First cook your potatoes, then peel them and mush them while they are hot, add salt, reserve.
Filling
- Start with a really hot pan add some oil and add the ground beef (or any meat you are using) then let it get some color, then reserve, lower the temperature then add onions, garlic, tomato paste and Aji Panca paste and let it cook for at least 7 min or until tender.
- Once it's cooked add the meat back and let it finish, add salt to taste, parsley, black olives and raisins,reserve.
Making the Papas Rellenas
- Grab some potato dough, make it flat in your palm and put about a 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling and a slice of hardboiled egg.
- Then try to press a bit in the center so you can close the potato dough and shape it like a football
- Flour your Papa Rellena and pass it through some beaten eggs then breadcrumbs
- Deep fry your Papa Rellena, and let it rest for at least 3 min or until golden then enjoy it!
Notes
- Potatoes have a lot of moisture while they are still hot, mushing your potatoes while there still are hot will add that moisture to your dough making, in that way it will not fall apart but you can add an eggyolk or two if needed.
- If you don't want to deep fry you could pan fry it, it might not be the same results but it still will work!
You can use any kind of potato you have on hand, if it is too starchy you can always “fix” the dough with an egg yolk or so.
I love the flavor of “Ají” Panca(Panca Chilli), it adds color and aroma to the ground beef.
Make sure to stuff your Papa Rellena properly, people are afraid it might fall apart however if you bread it properly you won’t have to worry about that.
Amazing dish with a lot of flavor! they will hold up (not cooked) on your fridge for 2 days.
I think you will like this dish since it’s versatile and you can stuff it with whatever you want, the ingredients listed are for the traditional “Papa Rellena”, but feel free to add or remove some of the ingredients.
Have you tried Papa Rellena? comment below
1 Comment
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- Caigua Rellena - Stuffed Caigua - Peruvia Recipe - Caihua - […] If you wondering if you have seen this filling in another Peruvian dish, you might be right, the filling…
In the early 50s my Dad was stationed in Lima,Peru. When arriving back home to the US my Mother and her best friend, “Aunt Dorothy”, who was also a military wife stationed in Lima, would get together to try to recreate this recipe. The kitchen was full of laughter and memories of Peru but each year as hard as they tried it was never quite right. This was before computers and online recipes. They have since both passed but I so wish I could make this for them now. Instead I will print it and put it away with the other things I treasure. Thank you!