Pollo Saltado

One of my favorite meals from my time in Japan was not Japanese. It's from a Peruvian restaurant in Isesaki (the city where I lived) called La Bodeguita. La Bodeguita is a hole in the wall place (or, rather, it used to be when I lived in Japan; friends told me it's now at a new, much larger location), very few tables, but the best food for miles. Fellow JET programme participants from other cities would come to Isesaki specifically for La Bodeguita, even though they felt our city did not have much else to offer. That's how good the food was.


Anyway, my favorite meal in Japan was pollo saltado. It's made with chicken, onions, tomatoes, french fries, and various ingredients for the marinade. It's usually served with rice. At La Bod, they had an AMAZING sauce that went with basially every menu item they served. We all loved it. A few people, right before leaving the country, asked for the recipe; they never got it.

In November 2008, I made a valient attempt at making pollo saltado. Something was a bit off taste-wise, but it was nearly picture perfect. I even tried to make the special sauce, and while the taste was divine, it was not spicy enough, and the color was wrong, wrong, wrong. I used yellow chiles, so the next time I try to make it, I will use some sort of red or orange chili. Silly me did not record the ingredients, though. :(

Yesterday, I not only attempted the meal, which is one of my favorites, but I believe that I successfully recreated it. Unfortunately, I did not measure any of the ingredients. I did, however, take note of what I put in and approximately how much I put in.

My Pollo Saltado (serves 2)

1 chicken breast
reduced sodium soy sauce
cumin
oregano
cilantro
1/2 medium onion
8-10 cherry tomatoes
oil
french fries (about 1 handful)

Cook french fries according to directions on bag.

Place chicken breast in a zip lock bag. Pour approx. 1/6 cup soy sauce, about 1/4 teaspoon cumin, about 2 teaspoons oregano, and 1-2 teaspoons cilantro. Close bag and shake. Refrigerate while slicing onions.

Slice onion. Add to zip lock bag. Refrigerate until fries are nearly finished.

Heat skillet. Add oil. Chop chicken into long(ish) slices. Add to skillet. Flip, then add onions and rest of marinade.

When chicken and onions are fully cooked, add french fries. They will absorb liquid and turn brown. Add cherry tomatoes and cook about 1 minute longer.

Serve and enjoy!

(Normally, pollo saltado is served with a side of plain rice and the sauce mentioned above, but I went without either of those this time.)