Qapchi

So Kate had an interesting adventure last night, by ordering a Ayacuchan meal called Qapchi (pronounced Hop-chi), which was described as potatoes, cheese, onions, and milk.  Sounded reasonably harmless, we thought.  Until it arrived!  We totally weren’t expecting it to be green!

The weird part was, it was served cold, sort of like a potato salad, but it was an entire meal unto itself.  It also tasted sort of like salty raw onions mixed with obscure green things.

I was able to find a recipe for those of you who are feeling particularly adventurous.  Unfortunately it was in Spanish so I had to use my sub-par translation ability combined with my sub-par knowledge of the kitchen, so hopefully it is usable or at least readable.

Qapchi

• 1 cup of fresh cheese (mozzarella will do, or feta)
• 1 hot pepper (rocoto)
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 heads of green onion

Preparation

1. Crumble cheese with your hands
2. Wash pepper and get rid of ends and seeds if you don’t want it too spicy.
3. Chop the pepper into very fine pieces, or use a food processor without water.
4. Chop the green union into small pieces and add all the ingredients together.
5. Add oil and mix.
6. Serve on a bed of potatoes, or with corn or yucca.