Peruvian Food Guide

Ají Verde, Rocoto & Huancaína: Peruvian Sauces Explained

Three cups, three jobs. The menu already describes them, so you can pick the one to add.

Ají verde

The menu lists Ají Verde (2 oz) at $0.99 before tax and describes it in one breath: our signature creamy green sauce, ají amarillo, cilantro and a whisper of heat. Peruvians put it on everything, and so should you.

Use it when the plate is rich and you want a green, herbal lift rather than a red burn. It belongs beside pollo a la brasa, beside fries, and beside anything you might otherwise drown. Because it is a 2 oz add-on, you can keep it off a child’s plate and still put it on yours. The chicken itself is on the pollo a la brasa page.

Ají rocoto

Ají Rocoto is $0.99 before tax. The menu calls it our fiery red rocoto pepper sauce, bold, fruity heat that is uniquely Peruvian. Rocoto is the cup you choose when you already like heat and you want it red and fruity, not green and creamy.

Warn anyone who likes it mild. If the table is mixed, order the rocoto in its own cup and leave the verde for everyone else.

Huancaína

Huancaína (2 oz) is $1.49 before tax. The menu calls it the classic Peruvian cheese sauce: silky ají amarillo blended with fresh cheese, rich, mildly spicy, impossible to stop dipping. The name means “from Huancayo.” You will also meet the same sauce already on plates, not only in a cup. Papa a la huancaína is $10.99 and yuca a la huancaína is $13.99, both before tax.

Those plates are the easiest way to taste it if you do not want to doctor another dish. Start with papa a la huancaína, the cold potato under the yellow sauce. The cup is there when you want more for fries or for a bite of chicken.

Is Peruvian food spicy?

More flavorful than fiery, with most of the heat served on the side. The chicken, the rice and the stews carry garlic, chili and herbs, and the burn you can dial lives in these three cups. Ají verde is the whisper. Huancaína is mildly spicy and cheesy. Rocoto is the fiery red one. You can eat a full Peruvian meal here and never touch the rocoto.

If you are ordering for people who disagree about heat, do not ask the kitchen to guess. Add the cups you want, at $0.99 or $1.49 before tax, and pass them. The pickup guide tells you to keep those cups on the side for the ride home, for the same reason.

The cups are ordered the same way as a plate. On our own ordering page they show up as Ají Verde (2 oz), Ají Rocoto, and Huancaína (2 oz), at the prices above, before tax. Carry the cups to the table, or set them beside a pickup box, and let each person choose. A guest who wants the cheese sauce already on a plate can skip the cup and order papa a la huancaína instead. Green is the mild cup, the cheese sauce is the rich one, and the red rocoto is the one to warn the table about. Name the cup when you order so the right one shows up.

Come taste it in Spring, TX

Authentic Peruvian cooking · 3835 FM 2920 Rd, Suite A, Spring, TX 77388

Keep exploring: Food guide · Papa a la huancaína · Ají de gallina · Pollo a la brasa · Menu