What does Aji De Pollo Taste Like?
Salty is one of the five main tastes. It has a satisfying and addictive quality with hints of sourness. Salty foods include cheeses, cured meats, chips, and olives. It is used in almost every dish and prepared food. Salt is added to enhance flavor and offer a distinctly salty taste.
Umami is one of five main tastes. It is savory with a depth of flavor. Umami is a taste in many foods, including meat, seafood, beans, and nuts. It is both naturally occurring and created through the specific use of ingredients to create a satisfying taste. Umami is characteristic of proteins and savory dishes.
Spicy is a flavor that brings heat and fire to food by creating a burning sensation in the mouth or sinuses. Spicy flavors come from hot peppers, horseradish, and wasabi. Spicy adds a kick and sometimes complexity to a dish and releases endorphins, creating a mildly addictive quality.
Ingredients
The potato is a starchy vegetable and tuber that forms under the soil. There are a number of varieties of potato, including Russet potatoes, the yellow colored Yukon Gold, and many others that are purple, red, small and large. All potatoes have a very thin skin, though baking potatoes have a slightly sturdier skin. The potato is hard and inedible until cooked. It can be boiled, baked, fried or cooked any number of ways and is an extremely versatile starch vegetable. The texture of a cooked potato is soft, while holding its shape and has an earthy and sweet flavor that is extremely bland, until salted.
Chicken breast is meat from the chest/breast area of a chicken. It is a larger piece of meat and slightly flat. When raw the meat is pink and slippery. It must be cooked before consuming. Chicken breast can be cooked using a variety of methods, including grilling, roasting and baking. When chicken is cooked it turns off white, has a tender texture with some chew and a flavor that is mild, meaty and savory.
Evaporated milk is a condensed milk product, though different from sweetened condensed milk. The milk is cooked down until more than half of the water content evaporates. Because it has been heated the milk is safe for storing and can last a while on store shelves. The result is a creamy milk product, with a gentle milky flavor. Evaporated milk is often used in baking.
Eggs have been a staple in diets for centuries. Boiled eggs are cooked in boiling water, with the shell intact. Soft boiled eggs have a runny yolk and firm white. Hard boiled eggs are cooked all the way through and are firm. The texture of a boiled egg white is soft, yet holds together and has a wiggly quality. The flavor is mild and and sulfurous. Boiled eggs have a variety of uses, from a salad ingredient to a sandwich topper.
White bread is a common bread found in America. It is yeast leavened and made from white flour. It has a soft brown crust and even softer center. The crumb is airy and incredibly light. The flavor is mild, slightly sweet and salty. It has very little flavor compared to many other breads and is used for toast, sandwiches and other bread dishes.
Water is a substance and chemical compound made up of hydrogen and oxygen. It is clear, fluid, flavorless and odorless. Water is a necessity in nearly every aspect of life, including cooking, baking and hydrating the human body. Water can be served as a cold beverage, or at any temperature comfortable to the mouth and skin.
The red onion is a type of onion and a bulb vegetable, meaning its bulb and not its leaves are eaten. Onions come in many varieties, including white, yellow and red. The onion is usually round and has a thin dry skin around its juicy layers. The skin is a purple/red tone as is the flesh. The body of the onion is made of multiple round layers, that get smaller towards the center. The flavor of onions are sharp and sweet when raw, with an astringent taste. When cooked, these flavors mellow and the sweetness emerges. Onion are a very common flavoring and ingredient for many savory dishes.
Vegetable oil is obtained by extracting oil from seeds. Types of vegetable oil include canola, sunflower, corn, and safflower. Light and with a neutral taste, vegetable oils are used to fry foods, or can be used to lightly coat meats and vegetables before roasting. Vegetable oils are also used as ingredients in salad dressings and sauces.
Pecans are a nut related to the hickory tree. They have hard, thin oblong shells with pointed ends and grey brown colors. The nut of the pecan is a warm brown tone and has a flat oblong shape, with a top that contains two indented lines downs its length with thin ridge in its middle. The pecan has a rich and buttery flavor that is sweet and nutty. Pecans are popular in the American south and are found in sweet and savory dishes.
Parmesan, also called Parmigiano-Reggiano is a type of aged cow's milk cheese. Parmigiano-Reggiano must be made in Italy and is the authentic real deal. Parmesan is extremely similar, but made outside of Italy and may use slightly different methods, depending on the maker and brand. Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano is aged for an average of two years and comes in a wheel shape that is cut into smaller wedges. It has a golden color and a texture than is hard and grainy. The flavor is intense, salty and extremely umami. It perks up many savory food items.
Yellow chili peppers are a variety of hot pepper with a thin, shiny, yellow skin and a tapered body of 2-3 inches in length. Their flesh is thin and crunchy with extremely spicy seeds inside the hollow of the pepper. The flavor is bright and hot. The pepper is often cooked to reduce the heat and is added into savory dishes in small quantities. This pepper is popular in Central and South American food as well as some middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines.
There are many varieties of black olives, including the Nicoise, Lugano and Gaeta. Olives grow on trees and must be cured before eating. All store bought olives have been cured and are ready for consuming. The meat of the olive is thin and varies from soft to firm. The flavor is always salty and changes depending on the kind. Some have a strong bite, others are mild and smooth and many are flavored with oils and spices. Olives are used in many dishes and as an appetizer.
Aji amarillo paste is a spicy pepper paste made from hot yellow chilies and salt and is very popular in Peruvian cuisines. Amarillo is the Spanish word for yellow, hence the name which literally translates to yellow pepper. The peppers are blended into a thin paste with a golden yellow color that may border on orange. The flavor is hot and spicy with a hint of sweetness. A little bit goes a very long way to flavor grains, vegetables and proteins.
Garlic is used in cuisines around the world and is extremely popular for its depth of flavor. The garlic bulb forms underneath the soil and is harvested once it reaches maturity. The bulb typically has thin, dry, white and flaky skin, surrounding the individual cloves. Often there are 10-12 cloves to a bulb/head of garlic. The cloves are cream colored with a strong smell and flavor that is spicy and sharp. Garlic takes on a nutty flavor in addition, when cooked. It is used in countless dishes, sauces, breads and more.
Salt and pepper is a seasoning mix composed of these two ingredients. Black pepper has a cool and mildly spicy flavor. Salt brings out the flavor in food. This combination is a mix of grey/black and white granules. It is used on many savory dishes to boost the flavor.
Oregano is an herb in the mint family and grows on thin and delicate stalks that produce tiny oblong leaves with tapered ends. These leaves are less than half an inch in length. Oregano has a mildly fuzzy texture and is thin and delicate. The green herb has a sharp and peppery flavor that is pungent, slightly bitter, green and a bit minty. When eaten, raw oregano creates a stringent feeling in the mouth. This herb is used in many cuisines and can be found frequently in Italian dishes, such as tomato sauce.
Parsley is an aromatic herb with slender green stalks and sturdy, small green leaves. There are two common types of parsley, curly parsley and Italian flat leaf parsley. Italian parsley has a more robust flavor than curly parsley. Though each type tastes green, spicy and vegetal, with a hint of bitterness. Parsley is used as and herb to flavor dishes and as a garnish.
