Tacu-tacu

Yesterday's rice and beans pressed into the pan, left to crust, and then rolled over on itself.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg.

Ingredients

• 500 g cooked canary beans or borlotti, with a little of their liquid
• 500 g cooked long-grain rice, cold and a day old
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons ají amarillo paste, as on its own page
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• salt and black pepper
• fried eggs, fried plantain and salsa criolla as on its own page, to serve

Method

1. IT IS PRESSED AND LEFT TO CRUST, THEN ROLLED IN THE PAN. The mixture goes into a hot oiled pan, is pressed flat into an oval with the back of a spoon, and then LEFT ALONE for four or five minutes until the underside has set into a solid crust -- and only then is it rolled over on itself from one side, like an omelette, to make a log with the crust outside. Stirred or turned early, it never crusts and what you have is fried rice and beans, which is pleasant and is not this dish.
2. SO THE PAN IS HOT AND GENEROUSLY OILED BEFORE ANYTHING GOES IN. A cool pan gives no crust however long it is left; a dry one sticks and tears when rolled.
3. THE RICE IS COLD AND A DAY OLD AND THE BEANS ARE MASHED ROUGHLY. About half the beans crushed with a fork and the rest left whole, which is what binds the mixture without turning it to paste. Fresh hot rice makes a sticky mass that will not crust.
4. AND IT IS A LEFTOVERS DISH BY DESIGN, which the page should say rather than pretending it starts from scratch. It exists because there was cooked rice and cooked beans in the kitchen, and it is better for it.
5. THE AJÍ AND ONION ARE FRIED FIRST AND THE MIXTURE BUILT ON THEM. Onion soft, garlic, then the paste fried until it darkens, and the rice and beans worked into that in the pan.
6. IT IS ROLLED ONCE AND SERVED, not turned repeatedly. Each turn breaks the crust.
7. Half the beans mashed roughly with a fork, the rest left whole.
8. Rice broken up with wet hands into separate grains.
9. Half the oil heated in a heavy pan. The onion cooked 8 minutes until soft, the garlic 1 minute.
10. The ají amarillo paste made as on its own page added and fried 3 minutes until it darkens. The oregano in.
11. The beans and rice added and worked together in the pan with a spoon until evenly mixed and hot through, 4 minutes. Tasted and salted.
12. The mixture tipped out onto a plate.
13. The pan wiped, the remaining oil heated until it shimmers, and the mixture returned.
14. PRESSED FLAT into an oval and LEFT ALONE 4 to 5 MINUTES.
15. The edge lifted to check: when the underside is a solid golden crust, rolled over on itself from one side into a log.
16. Given 1 minute more, slid onto a warm plate, and served with a fried egg, fried plantain and salsa criolla as on its own page.

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