Each region of Colombia has it own specialties and characteristic dishes. For example, in the capital of the country Bogotá; Ajiaco is a very popular dish. There are different versions of this soup, but it’s usually made with chicken and three kinds of potatoes, corn and an herb called guascas. This herb gives the soup a wonderful flavor. It is very important to use guascas and papa criolla as they are the key ingredients in this dish. For me, Ajiaco is a feel-good comfort food.
INGREDIENTS
(6-8 SERVINGS)
3 Chicken breast, skin removed
12 cups water
3 ears fresh corn, cuted into 2 pieces
¼ teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
2 chicken bouillon cubes
3 scallions
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 cups papa criolla (Andean Potato)
3 medium white potatoes, peeled and sliced
3 medium red potatoes, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup guascas
1 cup heavy cream for serving
1 cup capers for serving
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large pot, place the chicken, corn, chicken bouillon, cilantro, scallions, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for about 35 to 40 minutes, until chicken is cooked and tender. Remove the chicken and set aside.
2. Continue cooking the corn for 30 more minutes. Discard green onion and add red potatoes, white potatoes, and the guacas. Cook for 30 more minutes.
3. Uncover and add the frozen papa criolla and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, season with salt and pepper.
4. Cut the chicken meat into small pieces and return to the pot. Serve the Ajiaco hot with capers and heavy cream on the side.
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Anonymous
on Mar 19th, 2009
@ 11:02 PM:
I love ajiaco! Great Recipe.
Forager
on Mar 20th, 2009
@ 10:06 AM:
Oh this looks delicious – great comfort food as you say. I’ll have to try this recipe soon
TonyM
on Mar 20th, 2009
@ 12:00 PM:
I have never eaten Columbian food but that soup looks and sounds absolutely delicious. I must look out a good Columbian restaurant here in London.
Erica
on Mar 20th, 2009
@ 2:11 PM:
Thank you every one for all your great comments.I love Ajiaco too.
TonyM, I hope you can find a nice Colombian Restaurant in London, it is fun to try different recipes and ingredients.
5 Star Foodie
on Mar 20th, 2009
@ 2:33 PM:
How wonderful to learn more about Columbian food from your blog! This soup looks soooo good!
Maggie
on Mar 24th, 2009
@ 7:23 AM:
This sounds delicious! I have to be on the lookout to see if I can find guascas.
Erica
on Mar 24th, 2009
@ 9:41 AM:
Maggie you can find guascas online.
http://www.amigofoods.com/kigu10gr.html
Scott
on Jun 28th, 2009
@ 6:26 PM:
Thanks for this recipe! I have craved a good ajiaco recipe since my first trip to Bogota. The links are incredibly helpful also! Please keep adding recipes. I love Colombian food!
Erica
on Jun 28th, 2009
@ 6:39 PM:
Scott,
Thank you for your comment.
Gina
on Nov 5th, 2009
@ 10:59 AM:
Is there anything I can subtitute for guascas…im in canada and cant
get that here
Erica
on Nov 5th, 2009
@ 11:16 AM:
Hi Gina,
I don’t think so! Sorry!
Jamie
on Nov 5th, 2009
@ 11:52 AM:
I am preparing this dish for my son’s girlfriend, who is Colombian, for her birthday. What do you serve with the Ajiaco? I heard that it is typically served with avocado, capers, heavy cream and rice on the side. Is there a specific type of rice? What else? Thank you for this wonderful web site. I have truly enjoyed browsing through the recipes.
Erica
on Nov 5th, 2009
@ 11:59 AM:
Hi Jamie,
We serve ajiaco with plain white rice, avocado, capers and heavy cream! Thank you for the wonderful comment!
Respondon
on Nov 11th, 2009
@ 9:55 PM:
Guascas are “galinsoga parviflora,” a weed in North America that’s sometimes called Gallant Soldier. It is a nuisance around corn fields, and if you want to make an agricultural extension agent laugh, tell him (or her) that you *want* it because they’re accustomed to farmers who want to destroy it. But you shouldn’t gather it next to a corn field because it’s probably been sprayed. (That helpful advice is from the extension agent!) You can buy it dried at amigofoods.com and in Colombian stores in NY or Washington. Some people say that oregano is a good substitute but I don’t think so.
The frozen papa criolla work well for me, but the jarred ones (La Fe) have a chemical taste. When I don’t have papa criolla, I boil yukon gold potatos and then food-process them into a slurry that I add to the soup; I also use a packet of El Rey ajiaco seasoning.
traci
on Jan 8th, 2010
@ 7:57 PM:
erica, thank you so much for all of these recipes! my husband is colombian (i’m not) and he dearly, dearly, misses all of his favorite foods. these are wonderful, authentic recipes that i can’t wait to try out. i have read through many ajiaco recipes, and yours seems to be the closest to what we’re used to here in colombia. question: do the potatoes break down to thicken the soup, or do you mash them up a bit. (the ajiaco we eat seems to be thick and stew-like…)
thanks!
Erica
on Jan 8th, 2010
@ 8:20 PM:
Traci- You don’t have to mashed the potatoes. They usually break during the cooking process.
The papa criolla helps the soup to thick the soup, mine was pretty thick and delicious. Try it!
traci
on Jan 10th, 2010
@ 1:51 PM:
Thanks, Erica,
I definitely will try it and report back here. (Along with many of the other recipes!) We’re in Colombia right now, but when we get back, I’ll get to cooking!!
traci
on Feb 5th, 2010
@ 12:06 PM:
hi erica – i’m making the ajiaco today! i noticed that the red potatoes are listed twice on the recipe… are there a total of 3 red potatoes? thanks!
Erica
on Feb 5th, 2010
@ 12:11 PM:
Traci- 3 potatoes. Thank you for the comment! I fixed it
Torie
on Feb 6th, 2010
@ 1:04 PM:
Erica, Thanks for all the great recipes. I made your Ajiaco yesterday. It was so good! Capers are a must!
Erica
on Feb 6th, 2010
@ 2:06 PM:
Torie- Thank you for your feedback! Glad you liked it and you are right about the capers.
Kimberly
on Mar 2nd, 2010
@ 11:48 AM:
Hi, I prepared this soup last night. It turned out delicious with a couple of tweaks. First, 1/3 cup of guascas was too much for our taste. We put all the potatoes together to cook. This allowed the papa criolla to break down and give the ajiaco that cloudy, thick texture. I served it with white rice, but the rice gets combined with the soup. Finally, we added aguacate to the soup after it was served. Yummy and we have lunch today! Thank you for the recipe!
Tim
on Mar 8th, 2010
@ 10:30 AM:
This soup was wonderful! You are amazing. Thank you very much.
Shotdsherrif
on May 10th, 2010
@ 3:26 PM:
One thing I would add to this recipe is fresh avocado as a side in the serving. The wonderful thing about Ajiaco is how it is prepared to be personally garnished at the table by each guest. In our family, we would remove the chicken and corn after cooking and put in a serving dish along with the capers, cream and fresh avocado. What is left is a flavorful chicken/potato soup. Then each person adds ingredients according to taste.
I am born in the USA but my family is originally from Bogota and this is definitely our signature dish. Thanks Erica for a great website. I have already sent my mom the recipe to make homemade almojabanas!
Anonymous
on May 27th, 2010
@ 1:21 PM:
I made this ajiaco for my Colombian husband last weekend and He kissed me for a long time
He loved it. It was delicious.
Maria
on Jun 14th, 2010
@ 2:59 PM:
Erica,
thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I LOOOOOVE ajiaco, in fact if it was up to me I’d make a huge pot of it every sunday and eat it 2 or 3 times a day for the whole week!! Sadly my husband likes variety so I end up only making it 4 or 5 times a year. I think this is one of those dishes that each family makes just a little differently so my mom’s recipe is a little different than yours. I’m going to make it your way next time, that way I can have my favorite and hubby can have his variety!
BTW–For those who live somewhere that it is hard to find papa criolla sometimes I cheat a little bit and just add some mashed potato flakes close to the end of the cooking time to thicken up the soup.
And guascas definitely grow here as a weed I remember my grandmother coming for a visit to NYC and shouting with glee when she found a patch of guascas growing wild amongst the weeds. She’d send us out there every couple of weeks to pick them so she could make us some ajiaco