Pollo Saltado (Peruvian Chicken Stir-Fry)

Pollo Saltado is a Chinese-Peruvian stir-fry. Tender chicken strips, red onion, tomato & French fries cooked together in a umami sauce. It’s a quick dinner meal.

I’m BACK! I thought I could get back to blogging last week. Unfortunately, jet lag got to me. Good that we’re getting back to normal now.

Hong Kong was incredible! Food was fantastic. I got to enjoy many food that I love and miss. We ate nonstop pretty much from the moment we woke up to we went to bed. Other than eating, we spent most of the time hanging out with families and friends. It always feel great to be able to see people you haven’t seen for a long time. I’ll talk about a bit more about Hong Kong next post.

Let’s focus on this stir-fry now! Do you still remember the green sauce that I posted 2 weeks ago? This dish goes with that sauce like peas and carrots.

When I first had this dish at a Peruvian restaurant El Pollo Inka, I thought it looked more like Chinese food than Peruvian. Apparently, this is a creation by Chinese immigrants who opened restaurants in Peru. This stir-fry is the perfect fusion dish by combining local Peruvian ingredients, like potato and tomato and Chinese seasoning, like soy sauce.

Stir-fry usually doesn’t take long to make. This is no exception. The actual stir-fry time is about 15 minutes. But you do need a little extra time for the French fries. Instead of making them from scratch, I used frozen French fries. Pop them in oven and done. I hate frying food, so oven is my preferred method. But feel free to use a fryer.

I know it’s odd to see French fries in stir-fry. But the crunch really works in a stir-fry! Then there were the sweet onions and fresh tomatoes. It’s a great balance of flavors. And not to forget the creamy green sauce, you will definitely want a refill!

Make this today! Remember to let me know how you like it! 😊

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Pollo Saltado (Peruvian Chicken Stir-Fry)

Course Dinner

Cuisine Peruvian

Keyword chicken stir-fry, french fries, peruvian

Servings 2 people

Author Lokness

Ingredients

• 1½ cups frozen French fries
• ¾ pound boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into thin strips)
• 1½ tablespoons vegetable oil
• ¼ cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• ½ small red onion (sliced)
• 1 plum tomato (cut into wedges)
• ¼ cup cilantro (coarsely chopped)
• 2 green onion (thinly sliced)
• Salt
• Ground black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat the oven according to package instruction. When the oven is ready, place the frozen French fries in a single layer in a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in the oven according to the package instruction, but add extra 2 minutes to that baking time for extra crispiness.
• In a small bowl, combine the chicken broth, soy sauce and red wine vinegar. Set aside.
• In a large skillet over high heat, warm the vegetable oil. When the oil starts to smoke, quickly season the chicken strips with salt and pepper and mix well. Add the chicken strips into the skillet in a single layer. Do not touch and let them sear for 4 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the chicken strips into a large plate. Leave the juice in the skillet.
• Add onion into the skillet and cook for 4 minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomato wedges and stir gently for 30 seconds. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper. Add cilantro, green onion and French fries. Gently mix for just 10 seconds. Transfer to serving plates. Serve immediately with steamed white rice and aji amarillo sauce (Peruvian green sauce).

Notes

1. The French fries I used is Alexia Organic Yukon Select Fries. I baked them. They were crispy and worked really well. You can get any fries you want or even fry them in fryer.
2. Add French fries to the meat at the very last minute and don’t over stir. You don’t want the fries to get too soggy.
3. If you don’t have red wine vinegar, use apple cider vinegar.

(Adapted from Dinner Then Dessert)