Anticuchos — Grilled Beef Heart Skewers in Ají Panca

Ingredients

• 1½ lb Beef Heart, trimmed and cut into 1-inch slabs
• ⅓ cup ají panca paste
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 lb boiled potatoes, halved
• 1 cup boiled choclo or sweet corn
• 8 skewers, soaked if wooden

Method

1. If using beef heart, strip off the silverskin and any tough veins with a sharp knife. What is left should be dark, lean, and surprisingly tender.
2. Whisk the ají panca, vinegar, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and 1 tbsp of the oil into a marinade. Reserve ⅓ cup for basting before the meat touches the rest.
3. Marinate the Beef Heart at least 4 hours, up to overnight. Vinegar plus time is what tenderizes here, so do not shortcut it.
4. Thread the slabs onto skewers, folding them so they sit flat, and grill over screaming-hot direct heat 2–3 minutes a side, basting once with the reserved marinade.
5. Beef heart wants to stay medium-rare and juicy; poultry needs 165°F (74°C). Either way, pull them before they tighten and go gray.
6. Rest 3 minutes, then serve with boiled potatoes and choclo threaded onto the ends of the skewers, the way the carts do it.