Otra Vez Arroz Con Pollo

Since my first visit to the Peruvian cart Manos Peruanas (when I enjoyed a lovely arroz con pollo lunch), I have returned and tried more dishes. The only problem is that I forgot to write about them at the time. Now that I went back as part of the goodbye tour, I might as well mention them all here!

One cold winter day, I tried the aji de gallina. Set over a bed of white rice, the dish consisted of pulled chicken in a sauce of aji amarillo (a yellow Peruvian pepper) and parmesan cheese. There were also potatoes, half of a hard boiled egg and an olive.

This was basically chicken in cheesy creamy pepper sauce over rice and potatoes. I had gone there with the intention of getting arroz con pollo again, but the creamy chicken stew just seemed so comforting and warming for the winter weather. It definitely was both of those things, but it was also really, really creamy. Which means the dish is a little rich and you will get food coma. Tasty but a little too heavy for me to get on a regular basis.

Another cold winter day I went to order arroz con pollo (again) but the menu said it now came accompanied by papa a la huancaina. I had never tried that before but had seen it listed separately on the menu, so I thought this would be great - two dishes in one! It looked like creamy potatoes in the photo so I figured it would be warming and comforting like the aji de gallina. Which would be perfect since it was 23 degrees out.

What I didn't know when I ordered, having never tried papa a la huancaina before, was that it is supposed to be a cold dish. It consisted of two large pieces of boiled potato (basically, an entire potato) covered in huancaina sauce. Wikipedia tells me that huancaina sauce is made up of cheese, aji amarillo, evaporated milk, oil and salt (and sometimes garlic, onion and crushed Saltines). The sauce was tasty, but I don't remember it being that spicy. I also hadn't been expecting the potatoes to be cold so that was a bit of a shock after eating warm bites of chicken and rice. I was glad to try this Peruvian staple since it expanded my Peruvian food horizons, but I preferred the arroz con pollo with just the rice and onions.

All of which leads up to my most recent visit, when I went back to get some more arroz con pollo (third time's the charm?). They asked me if I wanted to have it with just rice or also some potatoes, and I enthusiastically asked for just the rice. Since I don't know when I can have this next (unless I go again this week), I wanted to make sure I got my fill of the cilantro rice with peas.

The arroz con pollo was good. It was a drumstick and thigh set over the cilantro rice with lots of the peppery red onion mixture. The chicken was a little drier than last time but still pretty moist and flavorful. The onions were as good as always. Adding the green hot sauce (not pictured) made this so delicious. I was so happy with lunch.

I highly recommend Manos Peruanas for a Peruvian lunch in Midtown. Whether you're looking for a healthier meal like arroz con pollo or something creamy and comforting like aji de gallina, they cover all the bases. And I don't know anyone else in Midtown that does what they do!