Ají de Gallina

Ingredients

  • For the Dish
  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs
  • 2 cups rice
  • Cooked yellow potatoes, sliced
  • Olives (black botija olives)
  • For the Sauce (the heart of the dish)
  • 1½ onions, brunoise (small, even cubes)
  • 4–5 garlic cloves, made into a paste
  • Ají amarillo paste, to taste
  • Cumin, to taste
  • 1 French bread roll, cut into thick cubes
  • Evaporated milk
  • Chicken stock (from cooking the breasts)
  • Grated Parmesan cheese
  • Vegetable oil
  • For the White Rice
  • ½ teaspoon chopped garlic
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • Water (1:1 ratio with the rice)

Preparation

Hard-Boiled Eggs

Boil the eggs for exactly 10 minutes. Bocchio insists: if the yolk turns grayish, you've overcooked them. Cool and peel.

Chicken

Boil water with diced tomato and salt. Cook the chicken breasts until tender. Save the stock – you'll use it twice. Shred into thick strips (not fine threads).

Fluffy Rice

Oil + chopped garlic until lightly golden. Add the rice, stir, add the water (same volume as the rice), salt. Bring to a boil, lower to minimum, cover, 20 minutes. Don't lift the lid before then.

The Sauce Base

In a pot, oil + onion + garlic paste. Sauté for 45 minutes over low heat until the onion is completely cooked and sweet – this is the step most people rush, and that's why the ají comes out flat. Then add the ají amarillo and cumin to taste. Stir in at least 4 tablespoons of the chicken stock.

Bread and Milk Mixture

In another container, cubed French bread + evaporated milk + chicken stock. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

Final Combination

Mix the bread paste with the ají amarillo base in the pot. Lower the heat to minimum. Add the shredded chicken. Turn off the heat. Finish with Parmesan to taste and stir.

Plating

Rice + potato slices + ají de gallina on top. Garnish with hard-boiled egg and botija olives.

Bocchio's Key Tips

  • Don't rush the onion. 45 minutes isn't an exaggeration – it's what separates your mom's ají from a bland one.
  • Homemade chicken stock, not bouillon cubes. The stock is structure.
  • French bread (not sliced sandwich bread). French crumb thickens without turning gummy.
  • Parmesan at the end, off the heat. If you cook it, it curdles.
  • Chicken in thick strips, not fine threads – texture matters.