Hispanic Heritage · Perú

La Selva

Iquitos · Belén · Nauta · Yurimaguas · Tarapoto · Lamas

Explore this kitchen on the animated map ↗

Juane de gallina

A juane opened in its leaf wrapping. Presentation may differ from this recipe. Dtarazona · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized source thumbnail; display may crop to fit.

Descubre

Peru’s selva introduces the juane: seasoned rice and chicken wrapped in leaves before cooking. The parcel gives the meal its form and holds the ingredients’ aromas together.

La Gente

Leaf preparation and secure wrapping are part of the recipe. Keep portions consistent, tie them firmly, and follow the cooking directions for the chicken and rice. Opening the parcel at the table is part of the pleasure.

Sabor

The selva cooks green and gold. Turmeric for color, cumin and garlic underneath, sachaculantro for the sharp green note that cilantro only approximates, and the leaf for everything else. It is less hot than people expect, with the heat in the cocona ají on the side, and it is smoky when the coals are involved.

Spice DNA · Herb high · Smoke medium · Sweet low · Heat low · Acid medium

Seasonings to explore

Minced Garlic in Olive Oil. In the rice and on the hen. Adds a savory garlic base.
Turmeric, ground. The gold of the juane. Palillo in Peru.
Cumin, ground. In the rice.
Black Pepper, ground. On the hen.
Oregano, whole. A pinch in the rice.
Bay leaves, whole. In the pot with the hen.
Cilantro flakes. A stand-in for sachaculantro when the Latin market has no culantro, which is the leaf you actually want.

From your market: a stewing hen or a large chicken, long-grain rice, eggs, black olives, culantro (recao) or cilantro, and the leaves. Badia does not sell the leaf. Also cocona if a Peruvian market is near you, for the ají, and a green plantain and a piece of cecina for the tacacho.

Cocina

Juane de gallina

Turmeric rice and hen wrapped in leaves and boiled. The parcel of the selva. Untie it at the table.

Makes 6 juanes

1 stewing hen or large chicken, cut in 6 pieces
2 Badia Bay Leaves, whole
3 tbsp oil
1 red onion, minced
2 tbsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil, or 5 garlic cloves minced
1½ tsp Badia Turmeric, ground
1 tsp Badia Cumin, ground
½ tsp Badia Black Pepper, ground
½ tsp Badia Oregano, whole
Salt
3 cups long-grain rice
¼ cup culantro or cilantro, chopped, or 2 tbsp Badia Cilantro flakes
3 eggs, beaten
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
12 black olives
12 banana leaves or bijao leaves, passed over a flame until pliable
Kitchen string

Boil the hen. Cover the pieces with salted water, add the bay leaves, and simmer until tender: 1½ hours for a hen, 45 minutes for a chicken. Lift out the meat. Keep the broth.
The aderezo. Warm the oil over medium. Cook the onion until soft, add the garlic, turmeric, cumin, pepper, and oregano and stir a minute until the oil is deep gold. Add the hen pieces and turn them in it. Add 2 cups of broth and simmer 15 minutes. Lift the hen out again.
The rice. Add the rice to the pot with enough broth to make 5 cups of liquid total. Salt. Cover and cook on low until the rice is done but firm, about 18 minutes. Spread it on a tray to cool. When it is warm, not hot, stir in the culantro and the beaten raw eggs, which will bind the parcel.
Wrap. Lay two leaves in a cross. Put a mound of rice in the center, press a piece of hen, a boiled egg, and two olives into it, and cover with more rice. Bring the leaves up around it into a round bundle and tie it tightly with string. Repeat.
Boil the parcels. Lower them into a big pot of boiling water. Cover and boil 30 minutes. Lift out and drain.
Serve one parcel per person, tied, with a knife on the table. Tacacho beside it if you made it, ají de cocona if you found it, and a fried ripe plantain if you found neither. Untie it yourself. That is the point.

Pueblos de la Selva

Iquitos · Belén · Nauta · Yurimaguas · Tarapoto · Lamas · Moyobamba · Rioja · Juanjuí · Tocache · Pucallpa · Yarinacocha · Tingo María · Puerto Maldonado · Oxapampa · La Merced · Satipo · Chachapoyas · Bagua