Mushroom cau cau, a vegetarian recipe from Peru

Name: Mushroom cau cau
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Peru
Ingredients: 700 g waxy potatoes; 400 g button mushrooms, quartered; 1 red onion, in small dice; 4 garlic cloves, chopped; 3 tbsp ají amarillo paste; 1½ tsp ground turmeric; 500 ml vegetable stock labelled gluten free; 100 g peas; 4 tbsp neutral oil; 1 small bunch fresh mint; Salt and pepper

Mushroom cau cau

Local name: Cau cau de champiñones

Potatoes and mushrooms in a turmeric and ají amarillo sauce, finished with fresh mint and served over white rice.

Published on 1 July 2026·Updated on 26 September 2026

VeganGluten-free#potatoes#mushrooms#turmeric#mint#peru

Method

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 cm cubes. Rinse them to wash off the surface starch.
Brown the mushrooms in 2 tbsp oil over high heat, leaving them still at first, then set them aside.
In the same pan, sweat the onion and garlic in the remaining oil for 6 minutes.
Add the ají amarillo and turmeric, then stir over medium heat for 3 minutes to cook the spices in the fat.
Pour in the stock and the potatoes, season, half-cover the pan and cook for 18 minutes.
Crush a few cubes against the side of the pan to thicken the sauce, then return the mushrooms and add the peas for 5 minutes.
Chop the mint and stir it in off the heat. Serve with white rice.

Turmeric wants fat before liquid: cooked straight in water it holds on to an earthy bitterness. Lima cooks build cau cau on tripe, but the yellow sauce works with anything that drinks up the stock.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.
Sweat the aromatics
Medium heat, no browning: the onion should turn translucent and sweet, not toasted.
Reduce
Uncovered, water leaves and flavour concentrates. It is done when the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Frequently asked questions

What can I use instead of ají amarillo paste?

It is a fruity, moderately hot yellow Peruvian chilli, sold as a paste in Latin American shops. Failing that, blend a roasted yellow pepper with a little fresh chilli: you get the colour and the sweetness, if not the exact aroma.

Why did my potatoes fall apart into mush?

Use a waxy variety and cut even 2 cm cubes; a floury potato disintegrates over 18 minutes of simmering. Stir as little as possible, and let the thickening come from the few cubes you deliberately crush against the pan.

When should the mint go in, and why off the heat?

Fresh mint loses its perfume within minutes of cooking and its green turns drab. Chop it and stir it through at the very last moment, with the pan off the heat, to keep the bright aroma that defines cau cau.

Mushroom cau cau

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

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Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

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