Anticuchos

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef heart, all connective tissue, fat, and membrane removed, cut into 3 cm cubes
• For the marinade
• 60 g ají panca, dried, soaked, and blended to a paste
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp cumin, ground
• 80 ml red wine vinegar
• 30 ml vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper, ground
• To serve
• 600 g yellow potatoes, boiled whole, kept warm
• 200 ml salsa de ají amarillo, creamy yellow chilli sauce, served alongside
• 8 bamboo skewers, soaked in water

Method

1. 1
   Trim the beef heart of every trace of connective tissue, fat, and membrane. Cut into 3 cm cubes. Any tough membrane left on the surface will not tenderise during grilling and will be chewy on the skewer.
2. 2
   Combine the blended ají panca paste, crushed garlic, cumin, vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl large enough to hold the heart. Add the cubed heart and turn to coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours and up to 8. The marinade is done when the cubes have deepened in colour and yield slightly to pressure — the vinegar will have begun to relax the dense muscle.
3. 3
   Thread the marinated cubes onto soaked bamboo skewers, reserving the marinade. Light a charcoal fire and allow it to reach a strong, steady heat with white-grey ash on the coals. This is where the dish lives or dies: charcoal is not interchangeable with gas — the smoke is structural to the anticucho experience, penetrating the meat and fusing with the ají panca's own smoky-fruity character.
4. 4
   Lay the skewers over the coals. Brush with the reserved marinade every 2 minutes throughout cooking. The marinade's sugars caramelise with each application, building a lacquered crust. Grill, turning once, until the exterior is visibly charred and dark at the edges — approximately 3–4 minutes per side. The crust should be deep brown to black at the highest points while the interior remains just cooked through.
5. 5
   Remove from the grill. The anticuchos are ready when the surface is firm and lacquered to the touch and carries the compound smell of char, ají panca smoke, and caramelised vinegar. Serve immediately alongside boiled yellow potato and creamy salsa de ají amarillo — the canonical combination of charred heart, neutral potato, and fruity-creamy chilli sauce is the complete anticucho.