Recipe Ajiaco Bogotano Impostor

The Late Night Gourmet

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Ajiaco Bogotano is a Colombian soup made with chicken, corn, potato, and capers. I had leftover corn, which normally means I make a corn chowder. The literal translation of the name of my recipe is "Imposter Ajiaco Bogotano"...@karadekoolaid can correct my abuse of the language. :laugh:

This unholy fusion of Ajiaco Bogotano and corn chowder is made with rutabaga in place of the potato, and no chicken. This can easily be made into a vegan recipe by using oil instead of bacon and vegetable stock in place of chicken stock. And, the capers aren't the gimmick I thought they were. They add a bright yet bitter pop to every spoonful.

And, as with all my stew recipes, I achieve thickness by using massive amounts of vegetables, thus avoiding the use of cream. I actually had to add stock because the rutabaga was so huge. The capers work well with the sweetness of the corn. While you likely won't find this dish anywhere in Colombia, I will probably make this again the next time I have extra corn.

I served it in a mortar bowl that I got years ago in the Yucatan. Not Colombia, but close.

After posting the recipe without it, I decided to redo it to include chicken. I had some pan fried chicken breast remaining from a dinner, and decided to mix it into the soup. It was amazing. The capers and the corn really work with the chicken to make this a more hearty stew.

Ingredients

4 ears corn, cooked
5 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
4 strips bacon, chopped (or 2 tablespoons oil)
1 red onion, diced
1 rutabaga, chopped in chunks
3 tablespoons capers
1 ounce caper juice
2 pounds chicken breast, trimmed and cooked to your liking, then diced
Salt to taste

Directions

1. Cut the kernels off the corn cobs, saving the cobs. Set kernels aside for later. Cook chicken stock on medium heat in a pot with the corn cobs while doing the next step, to infuse the flavor of the corn into the stock.

2. Heat bacon chunks in a large pot until fat starts to render. Stir in onion chunks. Cook for about 5 minutes, until softened, scraping pot occasionally. Add rutabaga chunks and stir to coat. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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2. Add stock and half the kernels to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium-low. Cover pot and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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3. Check to see if the rutabaga is softened enough to easily break apart. It shouldn't be mushy (potatoes are more prone to get mushy after stewing too long). Add mixture to a blender and blend as much as desired. Leave some chunks if you want a chunkier stew.

4. Add mixture back to the pot, then add in chicken, capers, caper juice, and remaining corn kernels. Stir ingredients thoroughly and cook for a few more minutes, adding salt to taste.
 
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