About this Dish
Grilled beef heart skewers — one of Peru's most beloved street foods, sold by anticucheras from carts across Lima at night. The heart is marinated in ají panca chilli, vinegar and cumin. Pre-Columbian in origin, eaten by the Inca before Spanish colonisation.
IngredientsServes 4
🫀Beef heart, 1kg cleaned and trimmed of fat and tough membranes, cut into 3cm cubes
🌶️Ají panca paste, 4 tablespoons (dried red ají panca chillies blended with a little water, or use jarred paste)
🧄Garlic, 5 cloves minced
🍶Red wine vinegar, 4 tablespoons
🫙Ground cumin, 2 teaspoons
🧂Salt, 1.5 teaspoons
⚫Black pepper, 1 teaspoon freshly ground
🫒Vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons
🌽Choclo (Peruvian corn) or regular corn cobs, 2 cobs cut into rounds, to serve
Method
1
Trim the beef heart carefully, removing any white fat, silver skin, valves and tough connective tissue — your butcher can help with this. Cut the cleaned meat into roughly 3cm cubes and pat dry with paper towel.2
Mix together the ají panca paste, minced garlic, red wine vinegar, cumin, salt, black pepper and vegetable oil in a large bowl to form your marinade. Add the beef heart pieces and toss well to coat every piece thoroughly.3
Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but ideally overnight — the longer it marinates, the deeper the flavour. While the meat marinates, soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes if using, to prevent burning.4
Thread 4–5 pieces of beef heart onto each skewer, packing them closely together. Boil or grill the corn rounds separately until cooked through and lightly charred.5
Heat a grill, griddle pan or barbecue to very high heat — you want it fiercely hot. Grill the anticuchos for about 3–4 minutes per side, basting with any leftover marinade as you go, until nicely charred on the outside but still slightly pink and juicy inside.6
Serve immediately straight from the grill, alongside the corn rounds and boiled potatoes if you like. The secret of great anticuchos is not overcooking — the heart should be tender and smoky, never rubbery.User Reviews
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