Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Fricasé Paceño
A warming La Paz pork stew in a golden, spicy yellow-chili broth, served with mote (hominy) and chuño.
Bolivian (Andean) · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 120 min
~718 cal · 66g protein · 36g carbs · 33g fat · 5g fiber · 1g sugars · 11g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Fricase is a warming pork stew from La Paz, built on a golden, spicy broth of ground yellow aji (aji amarillo). It is high-altitude cold-weather food, and it carries a well-earned reputation as a restorative eaten late at night or the morning after a celebration.
Pieces of pork are simmered with garlic, cumin and the aji until tender, and the broth is often thickened lightly with a little bread or breadcrumbs. It is served with the Andean staples that define it: mote (cooked ) and chuno, the freeze-dried potatoes of the altiplano.
Ladled hot into a deep bowl with the mote and chuno underneath, and eaten with a piece of bread and a slice of locoto on the side, it is one of the most characteristic dishes of the Bolivian highlands.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 lb pork shoulder or ribs, in large pieces
1/2 cup aji amarillo (yellow chili) paste, or fresh yellow chilies, seeded and blended smooth
5 cloves garlic
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 sprig fresh mint
2 quarts pork or vegetable broth
3 cups cooked mote ()
2 cups chuno (freeze-dried potatoes), soaked and cooked, if unavailable, use small waxy potatoes cut in chunks
2 tbsp breadcrumbs, to thicken
4 rolls crusty bread (marraqueta), to serve
to taste locoto or hot pepper slices, to serve
to taste salt and black pepper
Instructions
1
Rub the pork with the aji amarillo paste, then sear the pieces in a large pot until lightly browned.
2
Add the garlic, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper and stir a minute until fragrant.
3
Pour in the broth, add the mint, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer, partly covered, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the pork is very tender.
4
Stir in the breadcrumbs to thicken the broth lightly and simmer 10 minutes more; remove the mint.
✎ Chef’s note
The broth should be spoonable and golden, thickened just a little by the bread, not turned into a thick sauce.
5
Warm the cooked mote and chuno through, either in the pot or in the serving bowls.
6
To serve, place mote and chuno in each deep bowl and ladle the pork and hot broth over the top, with bread and locoto slices alongside.
La Paz highland cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
La Paz. Strictly speaking this is the world's highest seat of government rather than the highest capital, since Sucre holds the constitutional title. Either way, the altitude does the cooking: water boils well below 100 degrees up here, so soups run long and everything takes more time than the recipe says.
🗺️
Bolivia. Chuno is the altiplano's answer to having no refrigerator and too much frost: potatoes are left out overnight to freeze, trodden underfoot to press out the water, and dried in the sun over several days until they are light, grey and will keep for years. Rehydrated, they go into soups and stews and taste nothing like a fresh potato.
🌍
South America. Migration reworked the plate within living memory. Japanese arrivals in Peru and Brazil produced Nikkei cooking, Italians made pasta and pizza entirely ordinary in Argentina, Uruguay and Sao Paulo, and West African cooking carried into Bahia by the slave trade gave Brazil dende palm oil, okra and a whole ritual repertoire.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Bolivia
SilpanchoA Cochabamba plate of rice, potato, a thin breaded beef cutlet, and a fried egg over chopped salad.
Api con PastelA hot, spiced purple-corn drink thick with cinnamon and clove, served with a crisp fried cheese pastry dusted in sugar.
SalteñasBaked pastry pockets of juicy, gently sweet meat stew, sealed with a rope-braided crimp, Bolivia's mid-morning ritual.
Browse all Bolivia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Bolivia meal
Api MoradoDrink
Thayacha (Andean Frozen Oca)Dessert
Pique a lo MachoDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Fricasé Paceño?
A warming La Paz pork stew in a golden, spicy yellow-chili broth, served with mote (hominy) and chuño.
Where does Fricasé Paceño come from?
Fricasé Paceño is a Bolivian (Andean) dish from La Paz, Bolivia.
Can Fricasé Paceño be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Fricasé Paceño recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Fricasé Paceño safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Fricasé Paceño take to make?
About 140 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 120 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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