Charquicán

Ingredients

Meat

• 500 gbeef, finely diced, or 300 g charqui, soaked and shredded

Stew

• 800 gpotatoes, peeled and cubed
• 600 gpumpkin, cubed
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 3 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 200 ggreen beans, cut short
• 200 gsweetcorn kernels
• 3 tbspoil
• 500 mlbeef stock
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tsppaprika
• 1 tspdried oregano
• salt and black pepper

To serve

• 6fried eggs
• pebre

Directions

1. If you are using charqui, soak it in cold water for 2 hours, changing the water twice, then shred it. It is dried and heavily salted, and unsoaked it will make the whole pot inedible.
2. Fry the onion and garlic in the oil for 8 minutes, then add the cumin, paprika and oregano and fry for a further minute so the spices bloom.
3. Add the meat and brown it well all over.
4. Add the potato and pumpkin with the stock, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes until both are completely soft.
5. Now mash it roughly, straight in the pot, with a wooden spoon or a masher.
6. Charquicán is a mashed stew rather than a stew with whole vegetables in it, and the pumpkin dissolving into the potato is what gives it both its colour and its body.
7. Leave some texture in it. Puréed smooth it turns into baby food; what you want is a rough mash with recognisable pieces still visible.
8. Stir in the green beans and sweetcorn and cook for 8 minutes more, so they stay firm against the soft mash around them.
9. Season generously. This much starch needs considerably more salt than seems reasonable.
10. Serve in bowls, each one topped with a fried egg, with pebre on the side.

Technique

• Mash it, but not to a purée. The contrast between soft mash and firm beans and corn is the texture of the dish.
• The Quechua-derived name means charqui dish, and it joins Andean dried meat to Mapuche vegetables in a single pot.
• It reheats extremely well and thickens overnight, so loosen it with stock rather than water.

Substitutions

• Beef mince, which is what most Chilean households now use.
• Butternut squash in place of zapallo, using a little less because it is sweeter.

Variations

• Made without meat and topped with a fried egg, which is a common vegetarian version.
• Valdiviano, the soup relative built on charqui and onion.
• With luche seaweed stirred through, which is done along the coast.

History

Stew of charqui, potato and squash whose Quechua-derived name means charqui dish, joining Andean dried meat to Mapuche vegetables.

Frequently asked questions

What is Charquicán?

Charquicán is a main from Chile: mashed potato-squash stew with charqui or beef, topped fried egg. Stew of charqui, potato and squash whose Quechua-derived name means charqui dish, joining Andean dried meat to Mapuche vegetables.

How long does Charquicán take to make?

Charquicán takes 25 min of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Charquicán?

Yes, within limits. Beef mince, which is what most Chilean households now use. Butternut squash in place of zapallo, using a little less because it is sweeter.

What is the most important thing to get right in Charquicán?

If you are using charqui, soak it in cold water for 2 hours, changing the water twice, then shred it. It is dried and heavily salted, and unsoaked it will make the whole pot inedible.