Tacu tacu
Tacu tacu is another delicious dish from Perù made of fried rice and beans. The rice should be spicy and soft inside, and slightly crisp on the outside. It can be made with navy beans or chickpeas and onions, with a mix of spices to your taste.
In the original recipe the rice if fried in a skillet and caked together in a round shape. To keep it a bit lighter, I have transferred it to a mold sprayed with olive oil and baked it. The result is as delicious!
You can accompany tacu tacu with a fresh salad of any kind. I have used avocado and tomato tofu cream from the Causa Limena and stirred in some fresh Roman lettuce (thinly sliced), cucumbers and green onion.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1/3 cup navy beans
- 1/2 cup rice
- 1/2 teaspoon vegetable powder
- 1/2 teaspoon old bay spice mix
- 1/2 teaspoon cajun
- Pinch of red chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- Spray oil
Preparation
Peel and thinly slice the onion. Transfer to a skillet with a little olive oil and heat to medium. When the onion is translucent, add the beans with a little of their water. Season with old bay and cajun and mix well. When the beans and onion are soft, mash them roughly with a hand masher.
Stir in the rice and cover with water. Cover with water, and add the vegetable powder, chili flakes and turmeric. Let cook on a medium heat until all the water has been absorbed. Spray the mold with oil, transfer the rice to the mold and spray again the rice surface with the oil. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees in the oven. If you want a thicker crust, broil for a couple of minutes prior to taking the rice out of the oven.
While the rice is in the oven, prepare the salad. In my case, I rinsed and sliced a green onion, some Roman lettuce and baby cucumbers. Finally, I stirred in the tofu cream and avocado of the causa limena.
When the rice is cooked, take out of the oven and flip on a serving plate or a wooden board. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to cool before serving.
Enjoy your tacu tacu!
