Chochoca (cornmeal soup)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of cornmeal
• 1 kg or beef meat in big pieces
• 150 g. of chalona (salted dried lamb meat - this is hard to get so you can skip it if unable to find it)
• 1 finely chopped celery stalk
• 1 finely chopped leek
• 1 cup of chopped daikon
• 1 chopped onion
• 1/2 cup of chopped white cabbage
• 4 potatoes in pieces
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons of aji colorado paste
• 10 cups of hot water
• 2 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
• 1/4 cup of chopped yerba Buena (mint)
• Salt

Preparation:

Put the cornmeal in a small bowl and add 2 cups of water and mix thoroughly. Reserve.

Heat the oil in a big pot. Add the onion, garlic, aji colorado and cumin, and cook stirring frequently until the onion is translucent. Add the meat, chalona, celery, leek, daikon and salt to taste, and fried for a couple of minutes stirring frequently and flipping the pieces of meat so all sides looked cooked. Add the hot water and bring it to a boil. Add the potatoes and cabbage and half of the yerba buena. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Add the cornmeal mix slowly, stirring frequently. Add more salt if needed. Let it cook for 5 minutes.

Serve hot and sprinkle it with some yerba buena.