Tacu tacu

Tacu tacu is a Peruvian dish of leftover rice and cooked beans, mashed together and fried into a thick cake. It is most often served with a fried egg, a sauce or a meat stew on top.

What it really is

Tacu tacu is made by mashing cooked rice with cooked beans, most often canary beans or other pale Peruvian beans, together with the bean cooking liquid, garlic, onion and a little chilli. The mixture is shaped into a flat cake and fried in oil until a crust forms on both sides. Cooks traditionally use day-old rice, which holds together better when fried.

The dish is closely tied to Peruvian kitchen economy, where leftover rice and beans were combined into a new meal. It is distinct from plain rice and beans served side by side, and from the Peruvian sauté lomo saltado, which is often served on top of or beside it. Some cooks serve tacu tacu as a base for lomo saltado, which is why the two names are sometimes linked.

How it's served

• Usually served hot as a main course, with a fried egg placed on top.
• Often paired with a beef, chicken or seafood stew, or with a sauce such as a Creole sauce of onion and chilli.
• Commonly eaten with a fork and knife, cut into wedges.
• Sometimes served with lomo saltado as a base, a combination often called tacu tacu con lomo saltado.

How to write it on the menu

• Write it as tacu tacu, with the main ingredients named: rice and beans (canary or other Peruvian beans), with the topping stated, for example fried egg or beef stew.
• Flag EGGS when a fried egg is served, and note any MILK or WHEAT in the sauce or side.
• State whether the dish is served with a meat, chicken or seafood stew, or with a vegetarian topping.
• If the cake is served as a base for lomo saltado, say so on the menu, since the beef and tomato sauce changes the dish.