Smoke-roasted Peruvian potato salad

Travel the world's barbecue trail and potato salad turns up almost everywhere that people put food to fire. Peru's version is papas huancaina, named for the city of Huancayo in the Andean Highlands.

Smoke-roasted Peruvian potato salad. Credit: Planet BBQ

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Potatoes and carrots

• 900 g (2 lb) baby fingerling potatoes (ideally purple), scrubbed and blotted dry
• 2 carrots, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) chunks
• 2 scallions (spring onions), trimmed, white parts cut crosswise into 25 cm (10 inch) pieces, green parts finely chopped and set aside for serving
• 1½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt (sea or kosher) and freshly ground black pepper

Huancaina sauce

• 175 g (6 oz) queso blanco, white cheddar or ricotta salata
• 1 hard-cooked egg, peeled and halved
• 2-2½ tbsp aji amarillo paste or 2 tsp hot paprika
• 1 tsp ground or freshly grated turmeric
• 1 tbsp each fresh lemon zest and juice, or to taste
• ½ cup evaporated milk, or more as needed
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp canola oil
• Coarse salt (sea or kosher) and freshly ground black pepper

Serves 4-6.

You will need: Wood chunks or wood chips, soaked in water for 30 minutes, then drained.

Instructions

1. Set up your grill for indirect grilling and preheat to high.
2. Cut any large potatoes in half or thirds so all the potatoes are the same size, (that is, 2.5-4 cm / 1-1½ inches. Place potatoes, carrots, and 2 scallion whites in a grill basket, cast iron skillet, or a disposable aluminum foil pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Toss with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Place the pan with the potatoes in the center of the grill away from the heat. Add the wood chunks or chips to the coals. Cover the grill. Smoke-roast the potatoes until tender, 30 to 50 minutes. (Insert a bamboo skewer in one of the pieces to test for doneness: it should go in easily.) Stir the potatoes from time to time so they roast evenly.
4. In the meantime, make the Huancaina sauce. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in the bowl of a food processor. Blend until smooth, adding more salt and pepper or lemon juice as needed.
5. Transfer the potatoes in their grill basket or pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Place in an attractive mixing bowl and stir in the Huancaina sauce. Sprinkle with the reserved chopped scallion greens and serve.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.