Cau Cau

Ingredients

• For the tripe pre-boil
• 800 g honeycomb tripe, cleaned
• ½ white onion, halved
• 4 garlic cloves, whole, peeled
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• For the stew
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp ají amarillo paste, fresh fried in oil for deeper flavour; jarred acceptable
• 1 tsp turmeric (palillo), ground
• 600 g white potato, peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes
• 250 ml tripe cooking liquid, reserved from the pre-boil
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• To finish
• 15 g fresh mint, leaves only, roughly torn — added strictly off heat
• To serve
• 300 g white long-grain rice, cooked plain, for serving alongside

Method

1. 1
   Place the cleaned honeycomb tripe in a large pot with the halved onion, garlic cloves, white vinegar, and enough cold water to cover by at least 5 cm. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook for a minimum of 90 minutes. The tripe is ready when it yields to a firm press with a finger and carries no ammonia note on the nose.
2. 2
   Lift the tripe from the pot. Reserve 250 ml of the cooking liquid and discard the aromatics. Once the tripe is cool enough to handle, cut it into 3 cm pieces.
3. 3
   Heat the oil in a wide, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the ají amarillo paste and fry, stirring constantly, until it darkens by one shade and smells toasted rather than raw — approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the turmeric and stir for 30 seconds. The base is ready when the oil around the paste takes on a deep golden-orange colour.
4. 4
   Add the tripe pieces to the pan and stir to coat in the ají amarillo base. Pour in the reserved cooking liquid. Bring to a gentle simmer. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: the tripe must absorb the base fully over this simmer — too brief and the ají amarillo remains a surface coating; too long before the potato is added and the liquid reduces past correction. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tripe is evenly coloured and the sauce is cohesive.
5. 5
   Add the cubed white potato. Stir once to distribute, then simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. The potato is done when it is just tender at the centre when pierced with a knife tip and the sauce has thickened from the released starch — it should coat a spoon without running off.
6. 6
   Season aggressively with salt. Offal dishes require more salt than intuition suggests; taste and adjust until the ají amarillo registers clearly and the richness of the tripe is not muted.
7. 7
   Remove the pan from the heat entirely. Stir in the butter until melted, then scatter the torn mint leaves over the surface and fold in once. Serve immediately — the mint must not re-enter any heat source. The finished dish carries a clean, cooling aromatic over the richness of the stew; if it smells bitter, the mint was added too early.