Juane

A rice and chicken bundle tied in leaves and boiled rather than steamed, so it cooks under water.

Chicken, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains chicken, chicken stock, lard.

Ingredients

• 600 g long-grain rice
• 6 chicken thighs, bone in
• 6 eggs, boiled 9 minutes
• 6 large bijao or banana leaves, plus extra
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons ají amarillo paste, as on its own page
• 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 6 eggs, beaten
• a handful of black olives
• 3 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil
• 1.2 litres chicken stock
• salt and black pepper
• kitchen string

Method

1. THE PARCEL IS BOILED, NOT STEAMED. Tied bundles lowered into a pan of boiling water and simmered, fully submerged, for an hour. That is unusual for a leaf parcel -- the humitas on this site are steamed, and so is almost everything else wrapped in a leaf -- and it works because the rice is already cooked and the leaves are tied tight enough to keep water out. Steamed instead, the outside dries and the middle never sets into the dense mass a juane is supposed to be.
2. SO THE TIE IS THE WHOLE RISK. Two leaves crossed, the filling in the middle, the leaves folded over in four and tied with string tightly round both axes like a parcel. Any gap and the parcel fills with water and the rice turns to porridge.
3. THE LEAVES ARE PASSED OVER A FLAME FIRST. A few seconds each side until they darken and go glossy and pliable. Unsoftened, they crack along the fold and the tie will not hold.
4. THE RICE IS COOKED FIRST AND THEN MIXED WITH BEATEN EGG, which is what binds the parcel into a sliceable mass rather than loose rice in a leaf. Raw rice in the parcel will not cook through in an hour of boiling.
5. AND THE TURMERIC IS WHAT MAKES IT YELLOW, not the ají. A whole tablespoon, which looks excessive and is right.
6. EACH PARCEL HOLDS A WHOLE EGG AND A PIECE OF CHICKEN, and they are pushed into the middle of the rice rather than laid on top, so nothing is against the leaf.
7. Chicken thighs seasoned and browned in the lard, then simmered in the stock 30 minutes until tender. Lifted out, the stock kept.
8. The onion softened in the same pan 8 minutes, the garlic 1 minute, then the ají amarillo paste made as on its own page, the turmeric and cumin, 3 minutes.
9. The rice stirred in, then the reserved stock added, and cooked covered 15 MINUTES until the rice is done and the liquid absorbed. Cooled 15 minutes.
10. The beaten eggs folded through the warm rice.
11. Leaves PASSED OVER A FLAME until glossy and pliable.
12. Two leaves crossed on the worktop, a mound of rice in the middle, a chicken thigh, a whole boiled egg and two olives PUSHED INTO the rice.
13. More rice over the top to enclose them.
14. The leaves folded over in four and TIED TIGHTLY with string both ways.
15. Lowered into boiling water, fully submerged, and simmered 1 HOUR.
16. Lifted out, drained, and served still tied for each person to open at the table.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Peru · All recipes