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The Fire 50 · cook it at home

Anticuchos: Peruvian grilled skewers with ají panca

45 min plus 3 hr marinating · 4 people (12 skewers)

Lima's street skewers are beef heart in a vinegar, garlic and ají panca marinade, grilled over charcoal and brushed as they cook. Beef heart is traditional; sirloin works too.

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The real one

You need

• 800 g (1 3/4 lb) beef heart, trimmed of fat and sinew, or sirloin, cut into 3 cm cubes
• For the marinade: 3 tbsp ají panca paste
• 1 tbsp ají amarillo paste (optional)
• 4 garlic cloves, grated
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• To serve: boiled potatoes, choclo (large-kernel corn) or corn on the cob, ají sauce
• 12 bamboo skewers, soaked

How to make it

1. Marinate (10 min, plus 3 hr to overnight): Mix the marinade and toss the meat. Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Keep 3 tbsp of the marinade aside, mixed with 1 tbsp oil, for basting.
2. Skewer (10 min): Thread 3 or 4 cubes onto each skewer.
3. Heat (15 min): Build a hot charcoal fire, or heat a grill pan on high.
4. Grill (5 to 6 min): Grill 2 to 3 minutes a side, brushing with the basting mix, until charred outside and still pink in the middle. Heart becomes tough if overcooked.
5. Serve (2 min): Serve with the potatoes, corn and ají sauce.

Tips

• Ask your butcher to clean the heart; it's quick for them.
• Brush with a corn husk for the street-stall touch.
• Overcooking is the only real mistake.

Chef Amazing's own home version of anticuchos, in our words; not any restaurant's recipe.