Pollo a la Brasa (Peruvian Roast Chicken)

Method

1. Make the marinade: blend or mash the garlic, soy sauce, lime juice, ají panca, cumin, paprika, oregano, pepper, salt, oil and beer into a smooth, dark red paste.

   Add in this stepGarlic cloves 3Soy sauce 2 tbspLime juice 20 mlAjí panca paste (Peruvian red pepper paste) 1 tbspGround cumin 1 tspSweet paprika 1 tspDried oregano ½ tspGround black pepper ½ tspSalt 1 tspVegetable oil 1 tbspDark beer 60 ml

2. Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper and cut 2–3 slashes into the thickest parts. Gently loosen the skin with your fingers and rub the marinade both under and over it. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 h, ideally overnight. Wash your hands, board and knife well after handling raw chicken.

   Add in this stepChicken, bone-in with skin (leg quarters, or a whole chicken halved) 800 g

3. Take the chicken out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking. Preheat the oven to 210 °C for 15 min and set a rack over a foil-lined roasting tray (the rack lets heat circulate so the underside isn't soggy).

   oven

4. Place the chicken skin side up on the rack over the 25×35 cm tray and roast in the oven for 45 min, spooning the juices over once halfway. It's done when the skin is deep brown and crisp and the thickest part reaches 75 °C, or the juices run clear when pierced at the bone. If the skin darkens too fast, cover loosely with foil.

   oven

5. While it roasts, make the green sauce: seed the jalapeño (keep the seeds for more heat) and blend it with the coriander, cheese, mayonnaise, lime juice and garlic until smooth and pale green. Taste and add a little salt only if needed; the cheese is salty.

   Add in this stepJalapeño (or fresh green chilli) 1Fresh coriander (leaves and tender stems) 15 gQueso fresco or feta 25 gMayonnaise 3 tbspLime juice (for the sauce) 2 tspGarlic clove (for the sauce) ½

6. Cut the potatoes into 1 cm sticks, soak in cold water for 10 minutes and dry very well. Heat the oil in a deep 20 cm pot over medium-high heat to 160 °C (a wooden chopstick shows small steady bubbles). Fry in batches no more than a third full for 5 min per batch until soft but pale, and drain. Raise the oil to 180 °C and fry again for 3 min per batch until golden and crisp. Drain and salt. Never leave hot oil unattended, and keep a lid nearby.

   Add in this stepFloury potatoes (for fries) 400 gOil for deep-frying 1,000 mlSalt (for the fries) to taste

   medium-high heat

7. Rest the chicken for 10 min so the juices settle, then cut into pieces and serve with the fries and green sauce.