"Shredded chicken in a walnut-ají amarillo cream sauce — the walnuts add bitterness that keeps the rich sauce in balance. Peru's most beloved comfort dish."
About Ají de Gallina
Peru's most beloved cream-based dish — shredded poached chicken in a rich sauce of ají amarillo, walnuts, white bread, Parmesan, garlic and condensed milk that turns the sauce a vivid saffron-yellow; served over white rice with a boiled potato, olives and a hard-boiled egg; the walnut gives a subtle bitterness that makes the dish far more complex than its appearance suggests.
Ají de Gallina — a staple of Peru's cuisine
Peru's most beloved cream-based dish: shredded poached chicken in a rich sauce of ají amarillo, walnuts, white bread, Parmesan, garlic and condensed milk, which turns it a vivid saffron-yellow. Served over white rice with boiled potato, black olives and a hard-boiled egg.
The walnuts give a subtle bitterness that makes the dish far more complex than its appearance suggests — the ground walnut provides body and a slight dryness that prevents the sauce from being cloyingly sweet.
What to Expect
The ají de gallina arrives vivid yellow, the chicken shredded throughout the sauce. The black olive and egg sit on top. You mix everything and eat with the potato. The walnut is present without announcing itself.
Why Try It
Ají de gallina is Lima's most comforting dish — the food that Limeños miss most when they're abroad.
Insider Tips
Order at a traditional Creole restaurant (cocina criolla) — this is Limeño home cooking, not tourist food.
The sauce should be thick enough to hold its shape — a runny ají de gallina is under-reduced.
El Rincón que no Conoces in Lima is the most respected traditional Creole address.
