El Trío de Cremas
El Trío de Cremas·(el tree-oh deh kreh-mahs)
La Pollada del Fin de Semana
When the weekend hits and the smell of fried chicken fills the house, these three sauces are the undisputed kings of the table. In the backyards of Lima and the homes of first-generation Americans alike, a pollada without its creams is just a plate of dry bird. Forget the mayonnaise-heavy, jalapeño-laden sauces you see on trendy blogs. These are the real, unvarnished recipes—a holy trinity of Ají Amarillo, Rocoto, and Huacatay smoothed out with evaporated milk, saltines, and fresh cheese. The secret isn't magic; it's a quick sauté of the aromatics to kill the raw bite, and a steady hand with the blender.
Before you start
Make them ahead of time.
These sauces hold up beautifully in the fridge and actually taste better the next day; blend them up to five days before your pollada and store them in airtight glass jars.
Ingredients
- vegetable oil3/4 cup
- red onion1 small
- garlic4 med clove
- jarred aji amarillo paste1/3 cup
- jarred rocoto paste2 tbsp
- jarred huacatay paste2 tbsp
- evaporated milk3/4 cup
- Mexican queso fresco1 cup
- saltine crackers10 med
- standard yellow mustard1 tsp
- dried oregano1/2 tsp
- salt1 pinch
Method
- 01
Build the sofrito base for the yellow sauce.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small skillet over medium heat, tossing in half the chopped onion and two smashed garlic cloves to cook for 5 to 7 minutes until the harsh raw bite cooks out, then remove from heat and let it cool completely.
- 02
Emulsify the Ají de Pollería.
Transfer the cooled sofrito to a blender along with 1/3 cup of the ají amarillo paste, 1/4 cup of evaporated milk, 5 saltines, the mustard, oregano, and 1 teaspoon of the huacatay paste, blending on high until perfectly smooth before streaming in 1/4 cup of oil until it thickens like mayonnaise.
- 03
Sauté the base for the red sauce.
In that same skillet, heat another tablespoon of oil and cook the remaining onion and one smashed clove of garlic for 3 to 4 minutes until soft, removing from heat to cool completely.
- 04
Emulsify the Crema de Rocoto.
Toss the cooled aromatics into a clean blender with the rocoto paste, 1/2 cup of crumbled queso fresco, and 1/4 cup of evaporated milk, blending until smooth and finishing with a slow stream of 2 tablespoons of oil to tighten the emulsion.
- 05
Blend the raw base for the green sauce.
For the Ají de Huacatay, skip the skillet entirely to keep the sharp bite of raw garlic; add the remaining 2 tablespoons of huacatay paste, 1 tablespoon of ají amarillo paste, the last 1/2 cup of queso fresco, one raw garlic clove, 4 saltines, and 1/4 cup of evaporated milk to a clean blender.
- 06
Emulsify the Ají de Huacatay.
Blast the mixture on high until it becomes a bright, speckled green paste, then keep the motor running while slowly streaming in the final 1/4 cup of oil, seasoning with salt to taste.
Notes
Respect the blender emulsion.
The most common failure point is a watery sauce, so always let your sautéed aromatics cool before blending—hot oil will break a dairy emulsion in seconds.
Sourcing your heat.
Don't kill yourself looking for fresh Andean peppers; jarred pastes from the international aisle or frozen whole peppers from a local Latin market are exactly what diaspora grandmas use.
From Cook Peruvian in America.