Ají Amarillo Paste Recipe (a Peruvian Chilli Paste) (2024)

FAQs

What is aji amarillo paste from Peru? ›

What is Aji Amarillo Paste? Aji Amarillo paste is essentially ground up fresh aji amarillo chillies (chili peppers in American speak). The paste is an essential ingredient in Peruvian cooking and in Peru, is often made from scratch when needed.

When using aji amarillo paste as a substitute for fresh diced aji amarillo peppers, remember that 1 tablespoon of the paste equates about 1 1/2 whole seeded peppers. Also, I recommend always using a bit less than the recipe calls for at first because every paste (both brand and batch) varies quite a bit in heat.

The other option I wanted to try was the ají mirasol peppers. They're simply the dried ají amarillo peppers. The paste is a little more work when using the dried peppers, but it has a more intense, earthy flavor that I think would be really good in hearty dishes like this chicken stew and this chicken soup.

Aji amarillo is a yellow chili pepper from Peru. According to Eat Peru, it's the most popular chili pepper in Peruvian cuisine and is practically unavoidable in traditional dishes. The peppers are usually blended into a paste and mixed with other ingredients, like crema, mayonnaise, or sour cream to make a sauce.

It's sold in several forms, from frozen to dried or—my favorite—as a paste. Ají amarillo paste can easily be stirred into sauces, tossed with roasted vegetables, or served with eggs for a change of pace from Tabasco.

Once it's opened, Aji is to be kept in the fridge and is best before 5-6 months, as long as you ensure nothing else but Aji gets in the bottle (no cross-contaminating!)

The aji amarillo offers many health benefits, such as anti-coagulation, which helps prevent blood clots, stroke, and heart disease. They also have pain-relieving properties and antioxidants. Antioxidants help protect the body against heart disease and cancer. Aji amarillo is also a probiotic food.

Ají amarillo, also called amarillo chili and ají escabeche. Bishop's crown. Lemon drop, ají limón or ají limo. Piquanté pepper.

On the Scoville Scale, the Aji Amarillo ranges from 30,000 - 50,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), which is about as hot as a serrano pepper. What is this? Compare this to a typical jalapeno pepper, it can be up to 10 times hotter.

It's a different kind of fruitiness from other chiles like poblanos: less sharp and harsh, more full-bodied, and a lot more subtle. If there were a chile to taste like sunshine, this would be it. It may sound odd to use the word "comforting" to describe a hot chile, but for aji amarillo, it seems fitting.

In which country will you find aji amarillo in most dishes? ›

This pepper is native to the Andes (Bolivia or Peru) and has been called the most important ingredient in Peruvian cuisine as it is the cornerstone to many essential traditional dishes.

Aji amarillo is the best known, and famously gives huancaína sauce its flavor and color. This technique works for aji amarillo as well as it does for aji panca. You can leave out the oil and sugar, but they make the sauce last longer. It'll keep for 2-3 days in the fridge, and can be easily frozen.

Aji amarillo is used in many classic Peruvian dishes, such as causa rellena and papa a la huancaína, as well as aji de gallina (Peruvian spicy creamed chicken). Aji amarillo is also used in many sauces, where it adds a bright complex flavor as well as its distinctive yellow/orange color.

Aji Amarillo is almost mild when seeded and ribbed before cooking, with a meaty and crunchy texture, characteristic acidic and floral aroma, and a beautiful orange color. It can be eaten raw or cooked. In fact, just diced, sliced, or blended, it is the base for many of our traditional dishes.

The aji amarillo is a member of capsicum baccatum, one of the five domesticated pepper species, and is grown all over Peru. The aji amarillo—aji means chili pepper and amarillo means yellow in Spanish—is considered part of the Peruvian "holy trinity" when it comes to their cuisine, along with garlic and red onion.

It's a different kind of fruitiness from other chiles like poblanos: less sharp and harsh, more full-bodied, and a lot more subtle. If there were a chile to taste like sunshine, this would be it. It may sound odd to use the word "comforting" to describe a hot chile, but for aji amarillo, it seems fitting.

1. Aji Amarillo. Despite being a hot pepper (30,000 - 50,000 on the Scoville scale), the aji amarillo has a fruity taste. With vivid yellow-orange colors and a fruity spicy flavor, the amarillo pepper provides a burst of color and heat to any dish.