Picante de Pollo

Spicy Chicken Argentine Style

Oct 30, 2007 Timothy Dzurilla

This fiery chicken dish is sure to satisfy all your guests at your next Latin American fiesta.

This simple, spicy,and delicious Argentine chicken recipe comes from Teresita of Try 2 Cook, a cooking school in Buenos Aires. This is a great meal that you can quickly assemble without a lot of mess or hassle but is guaranteed to satisfy everyone in the house.

Locoto (aka Rocoto, manzano, canario, caballo, or peron)

The heat from this dish comes from the innocent looking pepper, the locoto, found commonly in Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina. Do not let this little round pepper fool you. It rates between 100,000 and 200,000 Scoville units on the pepper chart. This means that it's a shade less spicy that the habanero (100,000-350,000).

Spicy peppers have a long tradition in indigenous South American cuisine, and the locoto is no different. Thought to be the first domesticated pepper, this little fireball dates back around 5000 years ago (who said the chilihead craze was a new thing?).

If you are interested in more information on spicy peppers, handling tips, and Scoville units, check out this article on common Latin chilies.

Remember: After working with chilies wash your hands thoroughly with soup and water. DO NOT touch your eyes or any other mucus membrane (including mouth and nose) otherwise you will not be loving life for some time.

Picante de Pollo (Spicy chicken). Teresita's Way

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds chicken, cut into medium size parts
  • 2 cups of white onion, cut into small strips
  • 1 ¼ cup of carrots, julienne
  • 1 cup of turnip, diced
  • ¼ cup of fresh locoto or chili pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled, chopped and roasted
  • 2 spoonfuls olive oil
  • 3 cups broth or water

Preparation:

  1. In a large casserole put the chicken pieces after being washed with the yellow onions, carrots, turnip and salt. Pour the broth or water until covering the ingredients completely. Cook over high heat until it boils, and later over low heat for at least half an hour and a half or until the chicken is soft. Stir occasionally.
  2. Add the of fresh locoto or chili pepper, cumin, ground black pepper, salt, garlic and stir.
  3. If while cooking the level of the broth diminishes too much, add a little bit more of broth or water so that when serving there is enough liquid. Cook all together for an additional half an hour.

For more Argentine cuisine from around Buenos Aires try out one of these recipes:

Empanadas de Carnes Argentinas

Argentine Chimichurri Sauces

Veal Milanesa (breaded cutlets)

The copyright of the article Picante de Pollo in Latin/Caribbean Cuisine is owned by Timothy Dzurilla. Permission to republish Picante de Pollo in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.