Aji Recipe

[akirlu]

I'm re-posting this from RASFF because I want to be able to mark it as a memory, and besides, it turned out to be a pretty damn' good aji, which is why I want to be able to reproduce it. What follows is my own invention based on smushing together two extant recipes, going hog wild with the garlic, and adding a dash of folkloric rumor (the beer) and cultural awareness (the lime).

Aji - Peruvian Hot Sauce

3/4 of a bunch of cilantro, stems removed
2-3 T olive oil
juice of one lime
6-8 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded
beer to taste

In a blender or food processor, pulse everything but the beer together until smooth. Add beer (or, if you prefer, more olive oil) until you get a pourable consistency you like. Transfer to a plastic squeeze bottle. Pour over most any Peruvian main dish, and refrigerate any extra for next time.

I added a bit too much beer, so it was runnier than I would like. Just olive oil gets you a thicker sauce. Apparently the Peruvians will also add a saltine or two to thicken the sauce, but I don't generally have saltines around the house.

It seems like one pepper doesn't really make the sauce hot enough. The recipe I was riffing off called for three, but authentic aji tends to be too hot for me, so next time I guess I'll try two. Next time, I think I'll also consider wearing gloves when handling the jalepenos to seed them. I don't know how many times I had to wash my hands to get rid of the burning pepper oil. Finally washing with baking soda seems to be what did the trick.


Next time I'll probably add even more garlic, and may consider the suggestion from one of the cannibalized recipes of adding a bit of shredded mozzarella.

Comments

[alces2.livejournal.com]

this recipe.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't think you meant rubbing your eyes or genitals with capsaicin, mate. It's probably well worth your time to add the peppers bit by bit until the sauce hits your prefered level of heat.