Rocoto Relleno (Arequipa Stuffed Hot Peppers)
Bright red rocoto peppers, tamed by blanching, stuffed with spiced beef, peanuts, raisins, olives and egg, topped with cheese and baked in a milky custard. A proud classic from Arequipa.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Prepare the rocotos
Cut a lid off the top of each rocoto and set the lids aside. Wearing gloves, scrape out all the seeds and white veins, since this is where most of the heat is.
- 6
✅ Done when: peppers are hollow with no seeds or white veins left
Boil to tame the heat
Put the rocotos and lids in a pot with 2 liters of fresh cold water, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Bring to a boil, drain, then repeat two more times, each time using 2 liters of fresh water with 1 tablespoon each of vinegar and sugar (about 6 liters of water, 3 tablespoons of vinegar and 3 tablespoons of sugar in total).
- 6
- 3 tbsp vinegar
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 6 L water
✅ Done when: peppers are slightly softened but still hold their shape
Cook the filling
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Stuff the rocotos
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Add the custard and bake
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Serve
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Prepare the rocotos
Cut a lid off the top of each rocoto and set the lids aside. Wearing gloves, scrape out all the seeds and white veins, since this is where most of the heat is.
- 6
✅ Done when: peppers are hollow with no seeds or white veins left
Boil to tame the heat
Put the rocotos and lids in a pot with 2 liters of fresh cold water, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Bring to a boil, drain, then repeat two more times, each time using 2 liters of fresh water with 1 tablespoon each of vinegar and sugar (about 6 liters of water, 3 tablespoons of vinegar and 3 tablespoons of sugar in total).
- 6
- 3 tbsp vinegar
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 6 L water
✅ Done when: peppers are slightly softened but still hold their shape
Cook the filling
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Stuff the rocotos
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Add the custard and bake
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Serve
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The Story Behind the Dish
Rocoto relleno is the pride of Arequipa, Peru's 'white city' in the southern Andes, and a star of its famous picanterías, traditional restaurants where cooks still grind spices on huge stone batanes.
The rocoto looks like a sweet red pepper but is fiercely hot; Arequipa cooks blanch it repeatedly in vinegar and sugar water to keep its fruity flavour while softening the heat.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Sweet, salty, spicy and creamy all at once, it captures Arequipa's bold mestizo cooking in one dish.
💡 Fun Fact
Rocoto seeds are black, not white, which is an easy way to tell it apart from a bell pepper.
Arequipa
-16.41°S, -71.54°W
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