The Burroughs Pollo Sal-Totchos. Crispy tater tots topped with Peruvian-inspired stir-fried ground chicken, sauteed peppers & onions, and delicious gooey, melty cheese. Take pollo saltado, turn it into totchos, and enjoy as a fun and unique take of a gameday meal in-front of the TV.
One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about cooking is having the opportunity to learn something classic, employ some creativity, and just have fun creating something unique, fun, and utterly delectable. I’ve always been fascinated by how different cultures often co-mingle, and how migrations can frequently marry cuisines. As part of this explorations, a couple years ago I happened upon the intriguing amalgamation of Latin American, specifically Peruvian, and Chinese, specifically Cantonese, cuisines known as chifa peruano.
Unbeknownst to me until I started learning more about it, there was apparently this huge migration of Chinese immigrants into South America in the late 19th to mid 20th century. Because of the climate of the tropical Pacific that most of the journey occurred in, these Chinese immigrants were unable to bring many ingredients that were popular in their cuisine, only really being able to bring relatively shelf-stable ingredients like soy sauce. So, upon settling in places like Peru, they started using predominantly local ingredients that were similar-ish to what they were used to using back home (e.g. red wine vinegar instead of rice vinegar).
One such dish that came from this marriage of Peruvian and Cantonese cuisines, and a staple of chifa peruano, is the utterly amazing Pollo Saltado. Direct translation = chicken stir-fry. Slices of chicken stir-fried with onions, peppers, tomatoes, spiced with cumin & garlic, and finished with some soy sauce and red wine vinegar, then served with crispy potato wedges / french fries & steaming-fresh rice.
So this is our take on the classic chifa peruano dish.. Pollo saltado + totchos = Pollo Sal-Totchos.
We hope you enjoy!
PrintPollo Sal-Totchos: A Chifa Peruano-Inspired Dish
Crispy tater tots topped with Peruvian-inspired stir-fried ground chicken, sauteed peppers & onions, and delicious gooey, melty cheese.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
1 lb Ground Chicken
1 Medium Yellow Onion, thinly sliced (roughly 200 g)
1 Bag of Mini Sweet Peppers, cored and sliced into thin rings (roughly 200 g)
4 Cloves of Garlic, Crushed
1 14.5oz Can of Petite Diced Tomatoes
2 TBSP Neutral Oil, split (we prefer avocado)
2 TSP Ground Cumin
1 TBSP Flour
2 TBSP Soy Sauce
1 TBSP Red Wine Vinegar
1 8oz Bag of Shredded Cheese
1 20oz Bag of Frozen Tater Tots
Kosher Salt & Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to direction on frozen tater tot package (ours said 450F). Once preheated, bake tater tots on a lined sheet pan 15-20 minutes longer than package, until brown and crispy. (our package said 18-20 minutes, we cooked them for 40 minutes).
- Heat a large saute pan over medium heat, then add 1 TBSP of oil to pan.
- Add the thinly sliced onion and thinly sliced pepper rings to the pan, and cook 15-20 minutes, until almost caramelized. Add in crushed garlic, cook another 2 minutes. Remove from pan and wipe out pan (carefully, of course, no scorching fingers or other body parts).
- Reheat saute pan over medium heat. Add remaining 1 TBSP of neutral oil to pan.
- Once oil is hot, add ground chicken to the pan and break up. Immediately add in cumin, flour, salt, & pepper, and cook until browned, approximately 10-15 minutes. Add in petite diced tomatoes, soy sauce, and red wine vinegar. Cook for 5 minutes until liquids have mostly cooked out. Remove pan from heat.
- Once tater tots are browned and crispy, remove sheet pan from oven.
- On top of the tater tots, layer the ground chicken, onion & pepper mixture, and finally the shredded cheese. Place the layered totchos back in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is gooey and fully melted.
- Remove from oven, allow to sit for 3-5 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.
