Shredded chicken in a creamy, gently spicy aji amarillo sauce, served over rice with potatoes and olives.
Aji de gallina is one of Peru's most iconic comfort dishes, traditionally served at family celebrations and Sunday gatherings across the country. Shredded chicken is bathed in a thick, creamy sauce built from aji amarillo paste, walnuts and bread soaked in milk, blended until smooth — the bread and walnuts are what give the sauce its distinctive body without relying on a roux or heavy cream alone. Coconut isn't part of the traditional dish, so this platter stays honest to the real recipe, letting the aji amarillo and walnut-thickened sauce carry the dish the way it has for generations, rather than introducing a flavor that doesn't belong. Parmesan cheese, a legacy of Italian immigration to Peru, is often stirred into the sauce for extra richness and a subtle savory edge. Served the traditional way over white rice with boiled potato slices, black olives and a wedge of hard-boiled egg, this platter is a proper Peruvian holiday-table presentation of a dish most Peruvian families grew up eating.
Serves 4
Tear the bread into pieces and soak in milk for 10 minutes until fully softened.
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook 6-7 minutes until soft. Add garlic and aji amarillo paste, cooking 2 minutes until fragrant.
Blend the soaked bread with its milk, walnuts and half the poaching stock until smooth. Pour into the pot with the sofrito.
Stir in remaining stock, parmesan and salt. Simmer over low heat 10 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce thickens to a texture like a loose gravy.
Stir frequently once the sauce is on the heat — the walnut-thickened base can catch and scorch on the bottom of the pot if left unattended.
Fold in the shredded chicken and simmer 8-10 minutes until heated through and the sauce clings to the chicken.
Serve the chicken and sauce over rice, arranged with sliced boiled potatoes, black olives and quartered hard-boiled eggs around the plate.
Poach the chicken gently in barely simmering water rather than boiling it hard — this keeps the meat tender enough to shred finely by hand.
Toast the walnuts lightly in a dry pan for a few minutes before blending for a deeper, nuttier flavor in the sauce.
Reserve the chicken poaching liquid rather than discarding it — it's a key flavor base for the sauce, far better than plain water or store-bought stock.
Use pecans instead of walnuts if that's what you have on hand; the flavor shifts slightly sweeter but the texture stays similar.
Make it milder by reducing the aji amarillo paste to 2 tablespoons for a gentler heat level.
Swap chicken breast for a whole poached chicken, shredding both light and dark meat for extra richness.
Refrigerate the chicken and sauce together up to 4 days; the flavor often improves the next day. Reheat gently over low heat, stirring often and adding a splash of stock if the sauce has thickened too much.
Aji de gallina is believed to descend from colonial-era Spanish dishes using chicken breast, with the walnut-and-bread thickening technique tracing back to Spanish and Arab culinary influences, later adapted with the distinctly Peruvian aji amarillo to become a defining dish of Peruvian home cooking.
Yes, shredded rotisserie chicken works well and saves time — just use store-bought chicken stock in place of the poaching liquid for the sauce.
A blend of a mild yellow chile with a small amount of turmeric for color comes closest, though the sauce won't have quite the same fruity depth as real aji amarillo.
Thin it with a bit more warm chicken stock, added a few tablespoons at a time while stirring, until it reaches a loose, gravy-like consistency.
Per serving (480g / 16.9 oz) · 4 servings total
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