Recipe: Chancho al Cilindro

The perfect meals are the ones you can share with your loved ones, and in America when we think of sharing meals we instantly think of barbecues. Have you ever thought of giving your next Sunday barbecue a Peruvian spin? GiveChancho al Cilindro a try and you’ll be the best cook in town! 

What do you need to makeChancho al Cilindro?

Most of the ingredients in this recipe are pretty easy to get, and you might even say the preparation itself is uncomplicated. The hard part about cooking the perfectChancho al Cilindro is to have a cylinder. 

There are many theories as to when this dish became popular, and whether it’s not certain about 30 years ago it became very popular. It’s said Asian immigrants in Peru developed the cylinder as an affordable way to prepare their meals. The cylinder looks like a round grill but is much taller and has a round grate with hooks to hang the meat from them. You can either buy the cylinder or build one yourself if you’re handy. 

This recipe has a preparation time of about 9 hours and a cooking time of 90 to 120 minutes, so you might say it takes a lot of time and commitment, but once the meat is done you’ll have a mouth watering dish that serves 8 portions or even more. 

Ingredients forChancho al Cilindro

• 1 ½ kg (3.3 lb) of pig Pancetta. 
• 1 ½ kg (3.3 lb) of pork ribs.
• 2 tablespoons (.99 oz) of minced garlic cloves. You can also use garlic paste (findgarlic paste here). 
• 6 kg (13.2 lb) of charcoal.
• 8 large potatoes, peeled and boiled. 
• 2 large rocoto ají rocoto without veins and seeds. You can also use rocoto sauce or paste (findají rocoto paste here). 
• 1 cup (236 ml) of evaporated milk. 
• 200 gr. (7 oz) of fresh cheese.
• 8 saltine or soda crackers.
• 2 large lemons, squeezed to use the juice. 
• Salt to taste.

Preparation

• Take the 1 ½ kg of pig Pancetta and the 1 ½ kg of pork ribs and wash them both thoroughly and dry them. You should cut them in strips depending on the size of the grill or cylinder, once the meat is hanging it should reach halfway from the top of the cylinder to the tallest embers. Slather the pieces of meat with salt, place them in a long, flat container and let marinate for at least 6 hours.  
• Squeeze the juice of 2 large lemons and mix with the minced garlic or garlic paste. Once the mix becomes a paste, use it to season all the meat pieces and let sit for another 2 hours. 
• Place 3 kg of charcoal at the bottom of the cylinder and turn it on, letting it heat for approximately 30 minutes and checking the embers form correctly and it reaches a high enough temperature. 
• Hang the pieces of meat in the hooks of the cover and place it in the cylinder. Cover the cylinder and let cook for about 90 minutes. 
• Constantly check the embers and slowly add more charcoal as it consumes, the most important thing aboutChancho al Cilindro is to keep the temperature stable. 
• After 90 minutes to take out the cover and check the cooking of the meat. The meat should be well done and the skin should be golden-brown and crispy. If the meat’s not done yet cover again and keep controlling from time to time until the meat is ready, but be careful and don’t let it dry out. 
• Once the meat is done, take it out of the cylinder and cut it into smaller pieces. 

Chancho al Cilindro is the perfect barbecue recipe to share with family and friends and wow them with your grilling skills. To complete the Peruvian theme of your barbecue make sure to have grilled choclo (yellow corn) and lots of rocoto sauce to add the perfect spice to your meat.

As for the potatoes you can skin them, boil them and slice them or cut them into squares. Prepare a delicious sauce with fresh cheese, evaporated milk and butter and pour it over the potatoes, it will be the perfect side dish for your meat. If you’re looking for other types of side dishes you can also prepare a delicious fresh salad with a tangy dressing.