mmmm… Pollo a la Brasa eh?
You better be getting fries as your choice of side :lol:
Well all pollo a la brasa places commonly serve two sauces. Huancaina and Aji. Huancaina is the yellow one, Aji is the green one. The latter is spicier.
Seeing as you’re further up north I’m assuming they don’t go very classic with the sauces so let’s se what I can surmise from what you’ve described.
The yellow one is surely huancaina, however some places stretch it out with mayo since originally the sauce is more like a loose pesto. That being said I’m pretty sure you’re either getting classic huancaina (least likely), some sort of huancaina/mayo hybrid (more probable), or some sort of aji amarillo aioli, aji amarillo being the yellow peruvian pepper that flavors this sauce.
As for the slightly dark pink… hmmm. Hispanic countries love to mix mayo and ketchup as a standalone sauce, this could be a spicy version of that.
My opinion might be a little biased since I am Peruvian, but IMO Peruvian peppers outshine the more commonly known mexican ones. While the mexicans introduce a really nice heat, flavor wise they pale in comparison to the Peruvian ones.
Anyway, I’ve never eaten up in VA and don’t know any restaurant vendors/distributors up in that area besides fish mongers so I’m not too sure what kind of product they are able to get up there.
That being said the following are the most commonly used peruvian peppers in peruvian cooking.
You have;
Aji Amarillo, long and slender bright orange/yellow color. Medium heat, used more to flavor sauces and stews.
Rocoto, looks like a red bell pepper but these things are hot as fuck. mostly used to add heat to sauces but we also stuff them with an empanada like filling which is pretty good if you’re down with heat.
Those are the two most common and accessible ones. Cross your fingers that your restaurant doesn’t buy the puree in a tub, that shit is ass. Chock full of preservatives and bullshit that has a not so pleasant taste. Kinda like using store bought chopped garlic in a tub, ever notice that nasty bitter flavor?
There’s also Aji Limo which gives Ceviche it’s particular flavor, and some dried ones like Aji Panca and Aji Mirasol.
Could you take some pictures of the place/food/menu? I’d love to know what they’re doing up there.
perucho edit: I checked out the website and it looks like every other pollo a la brasa place, which is a great thing. I tried to do a little detective work on those sauces you mentioned but there was no description that I could find on the site. However noticing they have a “garlic” sauce I can ascertain that all three sauces are mayo based so that mystery pink one could maybe me some sort of aji panca or rocoto ailoi. Now that you know more about the ingredients you should ask a couple of questions on your next visit and I’ll give you some nice recipes. Also I forgot to mention that the BEST way to procure these peppers in the US (unfortunately) is in flash frozen form more than likely from a company called Belmont, who carries pretty much every peruvian ingredient you can’t normally get anywhere else.
I don’t like the idea of having a roast in the oven and me leaving it, but I have no problems leaving my slow cooker on either overnight or while I’m out running errands and when I wake up or come home I have a hot meal cooked for me.