Curanto en olla — Chilean pot-steamed shellfish, pork, chicken, potatoes, milcaos and chapaleles
Curanto en olla for 6: mussels, clams, pork, chicken, longaniza, potatoes, milcaos and chapaleles steamed in layers, with the broth served in cups.
Recipe in testing. We published it before cooking it in our kitchen. Once we cook it, we will adjust whatever it needs and remove this note.
What curanto en olla is and how it differs from curanto en hoyo
Curanto is one of the most representative dishes of Chiloé, the archipelago in southern Chile, and its name comes from Mapudungun, the Mapuche language, in which it refers to stony ground. In its original form, curanto en hoyo, a pit is dug in the earth, stones are heated with firewood, and shellfish, meats, potatoes, milcaos and chapaleles are arranged on top of them, covered with nalca or pangue leaves and sealed with damp sacks and a layer of earth and grass, so everything cooks in its own steam for about an hour. Curanto en olla, also called pulmay, moves those same layers into a large pot on the stove, with cabbage leaves in place of nalca. It loses the smoky touch of the stones but keeps a broth that is served separately, in cups.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Milcaos and chapaleles
Boil the potatoes for the doughs
Peel 750 g of potatoes, cut them into even chunks and put them in a pan of cold salted water that covers them by about 2 cm. Bring to the boil and cook for 15-20 minutes, until a knife goes through without resistance. Drain them, leave them in the colander for 2-3 minutes to steam off and mash them while hot until no lumps remain: waterlogged potato makes soft doughs that slump in the pot. Weigh out 250 g for the milcaos and 500 g for the chapaleles. While they cook, put the clams to soak (step 5).
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Grate and squeeze the raw potato
Peel the 500 g of raw potatoes and grate them on the fine side of the grater. Tip the gratings into the middle of a clean tea towel, gather up the corners and twist hard over a bowl until it stops dripping; do it in two batches if it does not all fit. That liquid is almost all water, and if it stays in the dough the milcaos turn sticky and crack in the steam. Grate just before shaping the milcaos, because grated raw potato darkens within minutes once it meets the air.
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Shape the milcaos
In a bowl, mix by hand the grated and squeezed potato, the 250 g of mashed potato, the cracklings, the melted lard and the salt until you have an even dough that can be shaped without sticking to your fingers; if it is very wet, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour. Divide it into 6 portions and shape discs about 8 cm across and 1.5 cm thick, pressing the edges so they do not crack. The cooked potato is what binds the dough; the raw potato gives the firm, slightly springy texture that sets the milcao apart. Leave them on a plate until assembly.
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Knead and shape the chapaleles
Put the 500 g of still-warm mashed potato in a bowl with the lard and salt, and work in the flour a little at a time with your hands. Knead for 1-2 minutes on a floured worktop, just until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky: overworked, it turns gummy. Divide it into 6 portions and shape ovals about 8 cm long and 1 cm thick. Unlike the milcao, the chapalele has no raw potato; it is a dough of cooked potato and flour that turns tender and dense in the steam.
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Assembly
Clean the shellfish
Buy the shellfish alive from an established, licensed seller and keep them in the fridge until you need them. Soak the clams for 30 minutes in cold salted water so they release their sand, then rinse them. Scrub the cholgas and choritos with a brush under cold running water and pull off the beards, the fibres poking out between the two shells, tugging towards the hinge. Throw away any with broken shells and any open ones that do not close when tapped: they are not alive.
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Layer everything in the pot
Use a heavy-based pot of at least 12 litres. Spread the onion over the bottom, as a bed that stops the shellfish from sticking, with the garlic, which scents the broth; pour in the wine and water. On top, arrange the cholgas, the largest of the shellfish, then the choritos and the clams. Follow with the ribs, the seasoned chicken pieces and the longaniza, then the whole potatoes. Cover with half the cabbage leaves, lay the milcaos and chapaleles on top in a single layer and cover them with the rest of the leaves before putting on the lid. The order has a reason: as the shellfish open they release their juices, which together with the wine make the steam and form the broth; the meat drips its fat and juices downwards; and the doughs, at the top, cook in steam alone without getting soggy.
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Cooking and serving
Steam for an hour without lifting the lid
Set the covered pot over high heat until the liquid boils and steam starts escaping from under the lid, about 10 minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 60-70 minutes without uncovering: each time you lift the lid, steam escapes and the cooking takes longer. If you smell burning, the bottom has run dry; pour half a cup of hot water down one side and turn the heat down a little. It is ready when the potatoes can be pierced without resistance, the shellfish have opened, the chicken comes away from the bone with clear juices, and the milcaos look firm and slightly translucent. If you use a thermometer, the chicken should reach 74 °C, and the pork and longaniza 71 °C, at the thickest point.
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Serve with the broth in cups
Lift off the cabbage leaves with tongs, keeping your face away from the steam, and take out the milcaos and chapaleles first. Share out on large plates, or on a platter in the middle of the table, some shellfish, a piece of each meat, a potato, a milcao and a chapalele per person, and discard any shellfish that have not opened. Strain the broth from the bottom of the pot through a fine sieve lined with a cloth to catch the sand, and serve it piping hot in cups beside the plate. Serve with the lemon quarters and, if you like, pebre (a fresh tomato, onion and cilantro salsa) and pan amasado (Chilean kneaded bread).
Nutrition information
| Calories | 1200 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 68 g |
| Carbs | 103 g |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 55 g |
| Trans fat | 0 g |
Values per serving (1 of 4).
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between curanto en hoyo and curanto en olla?
Curanto en hoyo is the traditional Chiloé method: it is cooked outdoors in a pit of stones heated in a fire, covered with nalca or pangue leaves, damp sacks and earth, and the water the shellfish release creates the steam that cooks everything in about an hour. Curanto en olla reproduces the same layers in a large pot on the stove, with cabbage leaves as the cover. It lacks the smokiness of the stones, but it can be made in any kitchen and leaves a concentrated broth that is drunk separately.
Is pulmay the same as curanto en olla?
Yes: pulmay is another name for curanto en olla. It refers to the same shellfish, meats, potatoes, milcaos and chapaleles steamed in a large covered pot instead of a pit of hot stones. Because the pot holds on to the cooking liquid, you are left with plenty of broth, rich with the juices of the shellfish and the fat of the meats, which is strained and served in cups beside the plate.
What is the difference between milcao and chapalele?
Both are potato doughs from Chiloé that cook on top of the curanto, but they are made differently. Milcao combines grated, well-squeezed raw potato with mashed cooked potato and often includes pork cracklings; besides steaming, it is eaten fried or baked. Chapalele is made only with cooked potato and wheat flour, with no raw potato, and comes out softer and denser; there is also a sweet version, with sugar or honey, served hot.
How do I know the shellfish are safe for curanto?
Buy them only from established, licensed sellers, with a known origin, and respect the harvesting and consumption bans that the health authority issues for red tide (marea roja). That is the key safeguard because, according to Chile's Ministry of Health, cooking shellfish does not change the red tide risk and the toxins do not alter their appearance. Before cooking, discard broken shells and open ones that do not close when touched, and when serving, any that did not open. If symptoms appear after eating shellfish, go to a health centre immediately and say what you ate and where it came from.
How long does curanto en olla cook, and how do I know it is done?
60 to 70 minutes over medium-low heat from the moment the pot starts to steam, without lifting the lid. The whole potatoes take the longest: once they can be pierced without resistance, also check that the shellfish have opened and that the chicken comes away from the bone with clear juices. With a thermometer, the food safety reference from Health Canada, the Canadian government's health agency, is 74 °C for chicken pieces and 71 °C for pork, sausages such as longaniza included, measured at the thickest point.
Can I make curanto en olla ahead, and how do I store leftovers?
You can boil and mash the potatoes, shape the chapaleles and clean the shellfish a few hours ahead and keep everything covered in the fridge; the milcaos are best shaped at the last minute, because grated raw potato darkens. Cooked curanto does not improve with reheating: refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, take the shellfish out of their shells and eat everything within 2 days, reheated until steaming (74 °C). Leftover milcaos can be browned in a frying pan the next day, since they are also eaten fried.
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