Charquicán — Chilean potato, squash and beef stew with a fried egg
Chilean charquicán: potato and squash cooked with beef, corn and peas, partly mashed and topped with a fried egg. Step by step, ready in 1 hour 15 minutes.
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What charquicán is and where it comes from
Charquicán is a thick Chilean stew of potato and squash cooked with meat, onion and seasonal vegetables such as corn, peas and green beans, then partly mashed so whole pieces remain in the creamy base. It takes its name from charqui, the salted, sun-dried meat it was originally made with; today it is almost always made with fresh beef, minced or chopped, and there are also versions with cochayuyo seaweed or dried fish. It is seasoned with sweet paprika, cumin and oregano and served in a deep plate with a fried egg on top. It is a dish with a long history: it appears in 18th-century letters and in 19th-century travellers' accounts.
Instructions
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Peel and cut the potatoes and squash
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 3 cm cubes. Cut the skin off the squash with a sturdy knife, scrape out the seeds and fibres with a spoon and cut it into 4 cm cubes, slightly larger than the potato: squash softens sooner, and at that size both are ready at the same time. Finely dice the onion and chop the garlic, top and tail the green beans and cut them into 2 cm pieces, and cut the corn off the cob with a knife, standing the ear upright in a wide bowl so the kernels do not scatter. If you are using lean beef instead of mince, cut it across the grain into 1 cm cubes so it stays tender.
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Brown the beef
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wide, heavy-based pot over high heat until it shimmers. Add the minced beef, press it into a single layer with the spoon, season with a pinch of salt and leave it alone for 3 minutes, until a golden crust forms underneath. Then break it up with a wooden spoon and cook for 3-4 more minutes, until no pink remains. That browning gives the stew a roasted flavour that beef simply cooked with the potatoes would never have. Tip it onto a plate with its juices. If you are using cubed beef, brown it in two batches: crowded, it releases water and turns grey.
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Sauté the onion with the garlic and spices
Lower the heat to medium, add the second tablespoon of oil and the onion with a pinch of salt, and cook for 6-7 minutes, scraping up the bits of beef stuck to the bottom, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic, cumin and oregano and cook for 1 minute, just until fragrant. Take the pot off the heat, add the sweet paprika and stir for a few seconds: this way it colours the fat without scorching, because burnt paprika turns bitter.
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Simmer the potatoes and squash
Put the pot back on the heat with the beef and its juices, add the potatoes, squash and 1 teaspoon of salt, and stir to coat them in the sofrito. Pour in the hot water: it should come roughly halfway up the vegetables without covering them, because charquicán is a dry stew and any liquid that does not evaporate ends up on the plate. Once it boils, cover, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 12 minutes. Scatter the green beans over the top without stirring, cover again and cook for 8-10 more minutes, until a cube of potato splits with no resistance when pierced and its edges start to crumble. If the bottom runs dry before then, add a splash of hot water.
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Roughly mash the potatoes and squash
Uncover the pot: only a finger's depth of thick broth should remain at the bottom; if there is more, cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes. With a potato masher or a large fork, mash the vegetables right in the pot with 10 to 15 strokes spread around, without aiming for a smooth purée: roughly half should collapse into a creamy orange paste and the rest stay in chunks. The starch from the crushed potato soaks up the broth and thickens the stew; overworked, it turns gluey.
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Stir in the corn and peas
Add the corn and peas, work them in with the spoon, reaching right to the bottom, and cook covered over low heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes so nothing catches. They are done when the corn no longer tastes of raw starch and the peas are bright green; frozen ones go in straight from the freezer and take the same time. Taste, adjust the salt and add pepper. The final test: a spoonful of the stew holds in a mound without running. If it is too stiff, add a splash of hot water; if it is watery, leave the pot uncovered for 2 more minutes.
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Fry the eggs
While the corn cooks, heat the last tablespoon of oil in a frying pan, ideally non-stick, over medium heat. Crack each egg into a cup and slide it into the pan; fry for 2-3 minutes, spooning the hot oil over the white, until it is opaque and firm while the yolk stays glossy and wobbles when you shake the pan. Season the white with a pinch of salt. Over very high heat, the edges burn and blister before the white around the yolk has set.
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Serve with the egg on top
Divide the hot charquicán among deep plates, smooth the top a little with the back of the spoon and set a fried egg on each serving. Once broken, the yolk runs into the stew and makes it richer. Leave the merkén on the table for anyone who wants a smoky, spicy touch; ensalada chilena, the tomato and onion salad, makes a good side.
Nutrition information
| Calories | 655 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 41 g |
| Carbs | 66 g |
| Sugars | 12 g |
| Fat | 27 g |
| Trans fat | 1 g |
Values per serving (1 of 4).
Frequently asked questions
What does «charquicán» mean and where does the name come from?
The name comes from charqui, meat that has been salted and dried in the air or sun to preserve it. According to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, it derives from the Mapuche charkikan, «to prepare charqui», built from the Quechua ch'arki and the Mapuche verb ending -kan; the dictionary records it in Chile, Argentina and Peru and describes it as a stew made with charqui, chilli and squash, among other ingredients. The historian Eugenio Pereira Salas linked the same ending to other stews of Chilean creole cooking, such as luchicán. The dish already appears in letters by the Jesuit Manuel Lacunza in the 18th century.
How do you make charquicán with charqui, like the original?
Use about 150 g of charqui instead of the 500 g of fresh beef: being dried, it goes much further. If it is very salty, rinse it under cold water and pat it dry. Toast it in the oven at 180 °C for 15 minutes, until crisp and fragrant, and once it is cool enough to handle, shred it with your fingers or pound it in a mortar; discard any hard pieces and sinew, and finely chop the rest. Skip the browning step: add the charqui right after the sofrito, without browning it, and let it rehydrate while the potatoes cook. Do not add salt until you taste the stew at the end.
Should charquicán be smooth like mashed potatoes?
No. It is mashed only halfway, with a potato masher or a fork, so that part of the potato and squash breaks down and thickens the stew while the rest stays in visible chunks: the result is thick and creamy but rustic. It should not be soupy either; it is a dry dish that holds its shape on the plate without running. Floury potatoes, which break down easily, and a small amount of cooking water both help. If it turns out too thick, add a splash of hot water or stock; if it is runny, cook it uncovered for a few minutes, stirring.
Why is charquicán served with a fried egg?
It is the most traditional way to serve it, and for good reason: the soft yolk, once broken, mixes into the stew and makes it creamier. That is why the egg is best fried just before serving, with a set white and a runny yolk. It is not compulsory: charquicán is also eaten on its own, with ensalada chilena on the side or with green chilli for anyone who wants heat. In 1838 the Frenchman Elie Le Guillou described it at a country lunch near Yumbel, served with large onions pickled in escabeche.
What other versions of charquicán are there?
It is a dish that adapts to whatever is at hand. On the coast it is made with cochayuyo, a Chilean seaweed, which is soaked for several hours, finely chopped and used instead of meat; in Lota, a recipe distinguished in El Menú de Chile, an initiative of Chile's Ministry of Culture, uses dried hake, soaked and shredded, known as «pescá seca». There are also versions with boiled, shredded chicken and vegetarian ones with extra vegetables. The vegetables follow the season: summer brings plenty of corn, peas and green beans, while winter leans on squash; some recipes add carrot or red pepper.
How long does charquicán keep, and can I freeze it?
Covered in the fridge it keeps for 3 days. It firms up as it cools, because the potato starch absorbs the liquid, so reheat it in a pot over low heat with a splash of water, stirring until it is creamy again. It can be frozen in portions for up to 3 months; the potato turns a little watery once thawed, but a few minutes of uncovered cooking brings the texture back. Thaw it in the fridge and fry the egg when you serve it: fried in advance, it turns rubbery.
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