Uchucuta Sauce (Andean Green Herb and Chile Sauce)

By Madhur Jaffrey

Uchucuta Sauce (Andean Green Herb and Chile Sauce)
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
10 minutes
Rating
4(73)
Comments
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Uchucuta means ground chiles in the Quechua language. The main ingredients in a traditional sour and spicy sauce include the hard-to-find Peruvian huacatay and other wild herbs. I have improvised without them, using mint, cilantro, oregano, tarragon and parsley. If you can ever find huacatay, add a handful to the other herbs as today’s Peruvians do. This delicious sauce may be spooned over eggs, grilled or roasted meats, and even grilled vegetables. I even love it on boiled potatoes. It lasts well in the refrigerator for 3 days. Extra sauce may be frozen for a month.

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Ingredients

Yield:About 1½ cups
  • 1loosely packed cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
  • 2loosely packed cups cilantro leaves
  • ¼cup loosely packed fresh oregano leaves
  • 1loosely packed cup fresh mint leaves
  • 2tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves
  • 2tablespoons lime juice plus a little more, if needed
  • 2 to 3fresh, hot green chiles, chopped (See Note)
  • ¼cup chopped feta cheese
  • 2tablespoons peanut butter, preferably organic and freshly made
  • ½teaspoon salt, or to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (3 servings)

153 calories; 9 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 320 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Wash the parsley, cilantro, oregano, mint and tarragon in deep water. Lift out of the water but leave some clinging to the leaves. Put in a blender with the lime juice, 4 tablespoons water, the chiles and the feta. Blend, pushing down with a rubber spatula as needed.

  2. Step 2

    When you have a smooth blend, add the peanut butter and salt. Blend again to mix thoroughly. Check the balance of salt, heat and sourness. Add more herbs, chiles or lime juice if needed.

Tip
  • When shopping for hot, green chiles, break a chile in half and smell it (or even taste it) before buying, to make sure it has heat. Fresh Peruvian chiles are hard to find in New York. I use Thai bird’s-eye chiles instead. Freeze what you do not use.

Ratings

4 out of 5
73 user ratings
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Comments

FRITZ

I have frozen whole New Mexico type hot green chiles which I roasted before freezing. Some are insanely hot. Is there any reason I couldn't substitute for fresh since it's all going in the blender? I'd leave out the roasted skins. I can also usually gauge the heat intensity of the chiles just from the smell when roasting and when I peel them. You'll know a hot chile when you smell it. It makes me sneeze and cough at the same time!

Bnom

This sauce was basically ruined by the addition of fresh oregano. Knowing how camphor-like fresh oregano is I used far less than the 1/4 cup called for. Even with making adjustments yo tone it down, I ended up tossing extras. That said, I would definitely make the sauce again without fresh oregano — marjoram may be a good sub.

T.J.

To the person breaking chilies in half and tasting them before buying (as advised in the tip section): If you break and lick the produce, you're obligated to buy it. So maybe try smelling first?

Nadia

Having grown up and making LOTS of chimichurri I found this to be a total improvement. I loved the addition of the feta and while I scoffed at the peanut butter after sampling it without I grudgingly added in 1 TBSP and was delighted with the difference it made. Mellows out the potential harshness of the raw herbs/lime juice and really pulls the sauce together. This will be my new green sauce moving forward.

T.J.

To the person breaking chilies in half and tasting them before buying (as advised in the tip section): If you break and lick the produce, you're obligated to buy it. So maybe try smelling first?

Linda

Delicious! It makes the soup special. I eyeballed the amounts and used one hot pepper. Be careful when adding lime juice - it can be overwhelming.

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