Bolivian recipe
Pique macho
Bolivia's most shareable plate: beef and sausage stir-fried with onion, tomato and chilli, piled over thick-cut fries and topped with boiled egg.
Pique macho is the Bolivian dish most likely to be recognised by someone who has never eaten Bolivian food, and also the easiest to get wrong despite having no difficult technique at all. The whole challenge is timing: chips, beef and stir-fry have to be ready at the same moment.
It is restaurant and weekend food, not a weeknight dish. It arrives in one large dish at the centre of the table and everyone eats from it directly.
Ingredients
- 700 g (1.5 lb) beef sirloin or tenderloin, cut into thick strips
- 4 frankfurter-style sausages, thickly sliced on the bias
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) potatoes, cut into thick chips
- 2 large onions, cut into thick wedges
- 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
- 2 locoto chillies, sliced (rocoto, or 1 habanero)
- 1 red pepper, in strips
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
- 3 tbsp mustard
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 litre (4 cups) oil, for frying
- Salt and pepper
Method
Cut the chips thick
Cut the potatoes into thick chips, about 1 cm square. In a pique they have to hold up under the sauce, so thin fries are no good.
Double-fry the potatoes
Fry first at 150 °C (300 °F) for about eight minutes without colouring, then drain. Raise the oil to 190 °C (375 °F) and fry again until golden and crisp. The double fry is what keeps them intact under the meat.
Sear the beef
Season the strips and sear them in a very hot pan, in batches and without crowding. Two minutes: golden outside, pink inside.
Brown the sausage
Brown the sliced sausage in the same pan and set aside with the beef.
Stir-fry the vegetables
Stir-fry the onion and pepper over high heat for two minutes — they should stay somewhere between raw and cooked, never soft. Add the tomato and locoto and give it one more minute.
Bring it together
Return the beef and sausage, add the mustard, soy sauce and cumin, and toss everything together for one minute. Taste and adjust.
Build the plate: chips first
Spread the chips across a large serving dish. This order does not change: chips on the bottom, everything else on top.
Tip the stir-fry over
Tip the meat, vegetables and all their juices over the chips, covering them.
Finish and serve immediately
Crown with the quartered boiled eggs and a few raw locoto slices. Take it straight to the table and eat it from the dish, together.
Nutrition
| Calories | 780 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 45 g |
| Fat | 42 g |
| Carbohydrates | 52 g |
Frequently asked questions
What does pique macho mean?
"Pique" refers to the chilli heat and "macho" to how much of it the original version carries. The dish is generally traced to Cochabamba in the 1960s or 1970s, though the specific origin stories vary depending on who is telling it.
How many people does it serve?
These quantities feed four people generously, but pique macho is a sharing dish. In Bolivian restaurants one order is usually split between two or three. It comes to the table in a single dish, never plated individually.
Does it really have mustard in it?
Yes, and it is one of the things that make it recognisable. Mustard and soy sauce are both part of the version that spread from Cochabamba. Purists leave the mustard out, but it is a well-established ingredient.
Can I make it less spicy?
Remove the seeds and veins from the chilli, or use just one, and serve extra slices on the side for those who want them. Leaving the chilli out entirely does not really work — the heat is half the name.
What to drink with it
Cold beer, or a very cold mocochinchi — a Bolivian dried-peach cooler. Llajua, the fresh tomato and chilli salsa, goes on the side for anyone who wants more heat.
Regional variations
The Cochabamba original is the spiciest. La Paz versions tend to have more vegetable and less sauce. In the eastern lowlands you will find chorizo and sometimes fried plantain added. There is also a much saucier variant that edges towards a stew, which purists consider a betrayal.
Storage
Badly, and it is worth accepting that. The chips soften under the sauce within minutes, so by the next day a pique is something else.
If you have leftovers, separate the chips before storing. The stir-fry keeps two days and reheats well in a pan; fry new chips. Rebuilt that way, it comes close.