Bolivian · main

Pique Macho

Pique Macho reads umami 6.2, richness 5.6 and sourness 4.2 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Bolivian main, about 58 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 6.6 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.8 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 4.4 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.3 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 5.9 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.5 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.2 · Richness 5.6 · Sourness 4.2 · Allium 4.1 · Salinity 3.9 · Heat 3.4 · Sweetness 2.2 · Earthy 2.1 · Warm Spice 2.0 · Fruity 1.9 · Bitterness 1.3 · Nutty 1.0 · Herbaceous 0.9

What's in it (17)

• beef sirloin — 700 g
• bolivian chorizo — 300 g
• potatoes — 1200 g
• oil — 920 g
• onions — 320 g
• tomatoes — 250 g
• locotos — 80 g
• garlic — 16 g
• eggs — 300 g
• beef stock — 44 g
• white vinegar — 30 g
• yellow mustard — 15 g
• mayonnaise — 27 g
• cumin — 10 g
• salt — 10 g
• black pepper — 5 g
• quantity llajua — 200 g

Time & effort: about 58 min (28 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 103.1 kcal, 7.8 g protein, 5.6 g fat, 5.8 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

1. Pique macho was invented in Cochabamba in the 1970s and it is a plate built to be shared by several people and finished by none of them. The order it is assembled in matters: chips at the bottom, meat over them, the vegetables barely cooked on top, and the sauces only at the end.
2. Season the beef with the cumin, half the salt and the pepper and leave it 30 minutes.
3. Fry the chips in two stages: at 150 C for 6 minutes until cooked through but pale, drained and rested, then at 190 C for 3 minutes until deep gold and rigid. They have to be sturdy enough to survive being buried under wet meat, and a single fry will go limp within a minute.
4. Fry the sausage coins in a dry heavy pan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes until browned and their fat has run, and lift them out.
5. Raise the heat, sear the beef in the sausage fat in two batches, 4 minutes a batch, so it browns hard and stays pink inside. Add the garlic in the last 30 seconds.
6. Return the sausage, add the vinegar and stock and let them bubble and reduce for 1 minute, scraping the pan.
7. Add the onion petals, tomato wedges and locoto rings and toss over high heat for 90 seconds only. They must stay crunchy — this is a warm salad tipped over hot meat, not a stew. The locoto is genuinely hot and the dish is named for the person willing to eat it; seed it if you must, but leaving some in is the point.
8. Pile the chips on a large platter, spoon the meat and vegetables and all their pan juices over them, and arrange the quartered eggs around the edge. Zigzag the mustard and mayonnaise over the top and serve the llajua alongside, with beer, immediately.
9. Substitutions: rump can stand in for the beef sirloin; a coarse smoked sausage can stand in for the Bolivian chorizo.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Texas-Style No-Bean Beef Chili — American
• Sopa de Tortilla — Mexican
• Beef Enchiladas with Chili Gravy — Tex-Mex
• Lamb Vindaloo — Indian
• Chilaquiles Rojos — Mexican

Keep reading: what umami, richness, sourness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.