A Lambayeque Monday turned into a deep bowl of comfort. Ground corn and cilantro transform the beef broth into a green, velvety stew with loche squash, cassava, caigua and zarandaja beans, while red-tinted rice catches every bit of it. This is food with a memory of its own: once it starts steaming at the table, a sensible portion becomes a difficult idea.
Turn what you find into an experience you can actually bring to your kitchen.
Rinse the zarandaja beans thoroughly and discard any damaged ones. Cut the beef into medium pieces, peel the cassava and cut it into thick chunks; open the caigua, remove any hard seeds and slice it into strips. Separate the green part of the scallions as well, since it will go into the corn mixture.
Heat most of the vegetable oil in the pressure cooker and cook the red onion for 7 to 8 minutes, until very soft and beginning to brown around the edges. Add most of the ground garlic, part of the ají amarillo and most of the ají panca paste; cook for 4 minutes, stirring often, until the aderezo is dark, glossy and no longer smells raw. Add the beef, zarandaja beans, most of the water and most of the salt. Close the cooker and cook at high pressure for 35 minutes; turn off the heat and allow a 10-minute natural pressure release before opening according to your cooker's instructions.
While the beef is under pressure, heat the remaining vegetable oil in a medium pot. Cook the remaining ground garlic for 30 seconds, add the remaining ají panca paste and stir for 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the white rice, mix well, then pour in the remaining water with another portion of the salt. Once it boils and the liquid falls almost level with the rice, cover and cook over low heat for 14 to 16 minutes, until the grains are tender, separate and lightly tinted red. Turn off the heat and keep covered.
Open the cooker once all pressure has been released. The beef should be tender and the zarandaja beans cooked but still intact. Add the cassava, caigua and most of the loche squash; cook uncovered over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cassava is almost tender through the center. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface.
Blend the corn with the cilantro, scallions, remaining ají amarillo, remaining loche squash and two ladlefuls of broth from the pot, just until a thick, even paste forms. Pour it gradually into the pot while stirring and cook over medium-low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, scraping the bottom almost constantly. The espesado is ready when the corn has lost its raw taste and the stew is creamy and substantial but still falls slowly from a ladle. Add the remaining salt and taste before turning off the heat.
Serve the espesado immediately in deep bowls, making sure each portion gets beef, cassava, caigua and zarandaja beans, with the red-tinted rice alongside. And that's it! If the spoon meets some resistance but the stew still flows, and cilantro arrives before the sweetness of corn and loche, the pot landed exactly where it should. Monday tradition: respected 😌
