Aguadito De Pollo

The Peruvian chicken soup you never knew you needed in your life!

There’s nothing better than a big bowl of soup to warm you up on a cold day or any day for me actually.

I’m always finding an excuse to make soup at home, partly because I’m a lazy cook but mostly because I looove soup.  Ok, maybe mostly cause I’m a lazy cook but I really do love soup.

This soup’s main star is cilantro, which gives a distinct green colour and flavour.   

*If you are one of the soap-tasting dislikers of cilantro, PROCEED WITH CAUTION. Although I can bet this soup might just change your mind.  No way Jose you say? Challenge accepted!

When cilantro is cooked it takes up a mellow, warmer flavour, therefore, removing that sharpness you tend to get from it when you eat it raw.

My mum refuses to eat raw cilantro, she is convinced it will make you feel heavy, bloated and gassy and there is no changing that little Peruvian woman’s mind.

I, on the other hand, am a strong believer in raw cilantro, especially since it helps remove heavy metals from your body. Never knew you had those? Yup, we tend to get exposed to them quite often in our daily lives without realizing it. Pollution, water, dental fillings, medicine even fish which usually contains mercury. Sooo, just to keep those metals flowing out of my body I tend to throw a bunch into my green smoothies in the mornings, always haunted by my mother’s disapproving face.  I’ll get through to you one day mum.

Ok, back to the soup!

You start off by throwing a big handful of cilantro leaves into a blender, with a quarter of a red or yellow pepper, and a bit of water and blend it into a semi-watery paste.  This will be added to the soup a little later so just set it aside in the meantime.

This recipe is a great way to use up that sad-looking cilantro that isn’t quite fresh enough for a green smoothie or salsa but is not bad enough to be tossed out.  So what’s the next best thing? boil TF out of it into a delicious soup and make yourself feel better knowing you didn’t have to throw out that cilantro bunch that’s been sitting in your fridge since that last recipe you needed it for.

Next, get all your ingredients chopped and your spices ready.

For the spices, you will need Aji Amarillo ( Ah-He Ah-Ma-Rio) its a hot yellow pepper paste used in almost all Peruvian dishes and an important part of this dish’s flavour.  You can usually find it in a jar at a Latin food store and if you plan to make many more Peruvian dishes it will always be needed. FYI It also goes by the name “aji marisol”

*If you don’t have aji amarillo YET, you can substitute jalapenos or serrano peppers in the meantime.

Make sure your onions and garlic are chopped very finely, this is essential for Peruvian cooking and mastering the ADEREZO, more on that later. If you are using jalapenos or serranos chop those finely as well. Your celery, carrots and bell peppers can be chopped roughly for some texture.

You will also need some turmeric, dried oregano, salt and pepper

If you master the aderezo you will master the base of flavour for almost all Peruvian dishes.

Season your chicken with salt and pepper and brown all sides in a pot on medium-high heat.  Remove and set aside on a plate. 

In the same pot and oil, we are going to make the aderezo. Add in your onions and scrape off the brown bits left by the chicken, once your onions are soft add your garlic, aji amarillo paste (or serrano/jalapeno), turmeric, oregano, salt and pepper.

Cook till golden and looks “curdled” (see picture below)

Once your aderezo is ready it’s time to add your celery, carrots, and browned chicken with all its juices into your pot.  Mix all the ingredients together and add the chicken broth (or water) till the chicken is just covered with liquid, and the cilantro paste you blended earlier.

Bring the soup to a boil on high heat.  Once boiling lower heat to medium, and simmer covered until your chicken is halfway cooked, about 15 min.

While you are waiting let’s talk about ADEREZO!

Ok so ADEREZO? WTF is that and why is it so important? well, my dear friends, it is only the holy trinity of Peruvian cooking and the key to achieving authentic Peruvian flavours!

Aderezo (pronounced Ah-De-Resso) usually consists of finely chopped red onions, garlic and some sort of chilli paste. The chilli paste will either be a RED (aji panca), Yellow (aji amarillo or marisol) or Green (cilantro) or sometimes a mixture of two or all three of these.

They are cooked down till golden and have an almost “curdled” look, which is waay more important than it sounds. Once ready all other ingredients are layered onto that flavour.

If you master the aderezo you will master the base of flavour for almost all Peruvian dishes. At least that’s what my momma told me and she doesn’t play around when it comes to cooking!

Did I mention my mum is renowned for her cooking?

Alright, 15 minutes are up and it’s time to add your potatoes (I used purple potatoes), washed rice, bell pepper and peas.

Cook till the rice and potatoes are just tender and immediately take off the heat.  A good way to tell your soup is ready is once the colour turns a darker green and the broth starts to thicken.

*IMPORTANT – The rice will continue to cook slightly from the residual heat. So do not overcook your rice or it will suck up all your broth as it cools and you will end up with something that looks like green porridge. Ok, If by chance this does happen (not judging) just add some extra chicken broth to the thickened soup and it will loosen right up.

Taste for seasoning and serve immediately with a wedge of lime.

And there it is!

My mama’s recipe for Aguadito de Pollo (pronounced Awa-deeto De Poyo), a classic comforting very filling Peruvian chicken and rice soup.

Yes, it is ugly and yes there are a few steps to get through but trust me it’s worth it, this soup is deeelish.

Also, ugly food is the best food…just saying

Well, I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I do but honestly, how could you not? It’s a big bowl of warm Peruvian hugs and I can’t get enough of it.   Now close your eyes and dig in.