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Anticuchos Picantes

Spicy Peruvian skewers made from marinated beef heart.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and oregano match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Anticuchos Picantes

Time4–6 minutes on the grill

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the marinade

  1. Clean the beef heart thoroughly, removing all nerves and fat.

  2. Cut into 1" cubes, place in a non-reactive bowl, refrigerate and set aside.

  3. Combine garlic, chiles, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and 1 ½ cups vinegar.

  4. Pour over the meat.

  5. Add more vinegar, if necessary, to cover the meat completely.

  6. Marinate, refrigerated, 12–24 hours.

Make the sauce and grill

  1. About 1 hour before grilling, remove the meat from the marinate and thread on skewers.

  2. Soak the crushed chile in 1/3 cup warm water for 30 minutes.

  3. In a processor, combine the chiles and water with oil and salt.

  4. Add enough reserved marinate (3/4 cup) to make a thick sauce, puree.

  5. Brush the skewered meat with sauce and grill over hot coals or under a broiler, turning and basting to cook quickly on all sides.

  6. Best cooked medium-well, 4–6 minutes on the grill.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

540Calories
27 gProtein
43 gFat
5 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Saucenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cumin + oreganotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together983 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,756 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Clove + cumintop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,306 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Clove + oreganotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together556 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef heart
Forms the main meat that becomes firm and chewy when grilled quickly over high heat.
Red wine vinegar
Adds acidity that tenderizes the meat and brightens the marinade's flavor.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma and savory depth that mellows during marinating.
Rocoto chiles
Provides heat and fresh chile flavor to the marinade.
Dried aji chiles
Provides concentrated chile flavor and body to the thick sauce.
Cumin
Adds warm, earthy aroma that complements the grilled meat.

The step that matters

Grilling the skewered meat. Beef heart is lean and turns tough if overcooked, so it needs quick, high heat and frequent turning to brown the outside while keeping the inside tender.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, garlic, cumin, oregano, pepper, vinegar, wine):

  1. Rosemaryfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Corianderfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, garlic, cumin, oregano, pepper, vinegar, wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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