Peruvian Red Noodles with Chicken and Papa a la Huancaina

Classic Peruvian comfort dish: chicken pieces braised in a rich tomato-aji panca sauce served over spaghetti, accompanied by yellow potatoes drowned in creamy aji amarillo huancaina sauce. The secret is a quick mother sauce, a lightly floured chicken, and using leek instead of onion in the sofrito for a softer, textured base.

smart_display Published 2026-05-26 download Extracted 2026-05-26

30m Prep

60m Cook

1h 30m Total

6 Servings

peruvian pasta chicken huancaina comfort-food sunday-lunch criollo aji-amarillo aji-panca

Ingredients

Chicken Marinade

1 whole whole chicken (cut in 10 pieces) (cut into 10 pieces)
30 g garlic (brunoise)
2 g cumin
25 g salt
3 g black pepper
20 g aji panca paste
20 g aji mirasol paste

Flour Coating

100 g all-purpose flour
100 g cornstarch

Huancaina Sauce

5 whole aji amarillo (cleaned) (halved, veins and seeds removed)
50 g onion (mirepoix)
20 g garlic (peeled) (mirepoix)
130 g vegetable oil
250 g fresh serrano cheese (queso fresco serrano)
6 crackers soda crackers
2 yolks cooked egg yolks (cooked (hard boiled))
250 g evaporated milk
to taste salt
to taste pepper

Mother Sauce

60 g olive oil
1 kg Italian tomato (seeded) (seeded, chopped)
100 g celery (mirepoix)
100 g red bell pepper (mirepoix)
50 g water

Red Sauce (Aderezo)

as needed olive oil
40 g garlic (finely chopped)
200 g leek (sliced in 1 cm half-moons)
30 g aji panca paste
30 g aji amarillo paste
4 g cumin
200 g tomato paste
12 g dried oregano (crumbled)
all of above mother sauce (blended and strained) (blended and strained)
130 g carrot (coarsely grated)
30 g porcon mushrooms (rehydrated) (rehydrated)
1 leaf bay leaf
40 g white sugar
30 g white vinegar
700 g chicken stock
to taste salt
to taste black pepper

To Serve

350 g spaghetti
as needed yellow potato (boiled)
as needed hard-boiled egg (boiled, sliced)
as needed black olives
as needed pasta cooking liquid
to taste salt (for pasta water)

Steps

Chicken Marinade

1

Season the chicken: cut the whole chicken into 10 pieces. Season with salt, pepper, finely chopped garlic, cumin, aji mirasol paste and aji panca paste. Rub each piece firmly so the seasoning penetrates the meat.

Tip: If you don't have aji panca paste, paprika is an acceptable substitute.

~5 min
2

Add a splash of water to the seasoned chicken and mix; this helps the seasonings disperse and yields a juicier final result. Refrigerate to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Tip: Overnight marination develops the deepest flavor.

~120 min

Flour Coating

1

Combine flour and cornstarch. Lightly dredge each marinated chicken piece in the mixture - just a thin coating, not a heavy breading. This keeps the pieces from falling apart during the long braise.

Tip: Cornstarch added to the flour gives a more delicate crust than flour alone.

~5 min
2

Heat oil (vegetable or olive) in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the floured chicken pieces on all sides. Remove and set aside.

~10 min

Huancaina Sauce

1

While the chicken simmers, prepare the huancaina sauce. Confit the halved aji amarillo (veins and seeds removed) in vegetable oil over moderate heat for about 3 minutes so the skin loosens.

~3 min
2

Add the onion and garlic (both mirepoix) to the oil with the aji amarillo. Cook just until they are tender and translucent - do NOT let them brown or caramelize, as the Maillard reaction would overwhelm the clean, fresh flavor of the huancaina.

Tip: Avoiding browning is the key difference from a standard aderezo - this is a confit, not a sofrito.

~5 min
3

Peel the skin off the confit aji amarillo. Transfer the aji, onion, garlic and a portion of the cooking oil to a blender. Add fresh serrano cheese, soda crackers (start with a few, add more to thicken as needed), cooked egg yolks, evaporated milk and salt. Blend until smooth, adjusting with extra milk for the desired creamy texture.

Tip: Add the soda crackers gradually - they are the texture control. Too many and the sauce gets pasty.

~5 min

Mother Sauce

1

Make the mother sauce: heat a little oil over moderate heat. Add seeded chopped tomato, a little celery and red bell pepper. Add a pinch of salt to release juices quickly. Once lightly browned, add water, cover and simmer about 10 minutes. Then blend and strain.

Tip: Strain to remove fibers and skin so the final sauce is silky.

~15 min

Red Sauce (Aderezo)

1

Build the aderezo (red sauce base): in the same pot with a little oil over medium heat, sweat the chopped garlic until it changes color. Add the leek cut in 1 cm half-moons (no onion in this recipe - leek provides a softer, more textured aromatic base). Add a pinch of salt.

Tip: Cutting the leek thicker (1 cm) preserves textural bite in the final sauce - this is the signature move of the recipe.

~5 min
2

Add tomato paste to the aderezo and toast briefly to deepen its flavor. Then add aji panca paste, aji amarillo (or mirasol) paste, cumin, crumbled dried oregano and a bay leaf. Stir until fragrant.

Tip: Toasting the tomato paste in the aderezo concentrates its flavor much more than adding it later with the liquid.

~3 min
3

Add the strained mother sauce to the aderezo, then white sugar (this sauce is slightly sweet - the sugar balances the acidity of tomato and vinegar), white vinegar, and chicken stock. Adjust salt. Return the browned chicken pieces to the pot.

~3 min
4

Simmer the chicken in the sauce over medium heat for 40-50 minutes total. 20 minutes before the end, add the rehydrated porcon mushrooms so they keep their flavor. 10 minutes before the end, add the coarsely grated carrot so it keeps some texture.

Tip: Adding the mushrooms and carrot late is critical - if added at the start they lose flavor and texture.

~50 min

To Serve

1

Cook the spaghetti in salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving some pasta water.

~10 min
2

Boil the yellow potatoes until tender; peel and slice. Hard-boil eggs; peel and halve. Have black olives ready.

~15 min
3

To plate: toss the drained spaghetti with a ladle of the red chicken sauce in a pan over the heat to coat and warm through. Plate the red noodles, top with a piece of braised chicken and extra sauce. Beside them, place sliced yellow potatoes generously napped with huancaina sauce, garnished with hard-boiled egg and olives. Serve immediately.

Tip: Adjust seasoning at every stage - sweetness, acidity and salt all need rechecking based on the specific ingredients you used.

~5 min

Nutrition (per serving)

720

Calories

38g

Protein

70g

Carbs

32g

Fat

Fiber

Cultural Context

Tallarines rojos with papa a la huancaina is one of Peru's most beloved Sunday family lunches, a criollo dish that fuses Italian pasta heritage (brought by Italian immigrants in the late 19th century) with native Andean chiles (aji panca, aji mirasol, aji amarillo) and the Peruvian potato. The huancaina sauce takes its name from Huancayo in the central Andes and traditionally accompanies boiled potato. Chef Giacomo Bocchio's version emphasizes a leek-based sofrito over the more common onion, lightly flour-coating the chicken for structural integrity during the long braise, and finishing with grated carrot and porcon mushrooms (a Peruvian dried mushroom) added late so their texture and aroma survive.