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Ají de uchuvas

Gooseberry hot sauce · Uchuva hot sauce · Goldenberry ají

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A sweet, tart and spicy Colombian sauce of uchuva, the yellow physalis fruit, with hot pepper, scallion, cilantro and lime.

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Golden-orange Colombian ají de uchuvas with goldenberry seeds, chile, scallion and cilantro.

A fruit sauce with uchuva

Ají de uchuvas is a Colombian hot sauce made from uchuva, a small yellow fruit that is tart and a little sweet. The page presents the sauce as a Colombian recipe and does not describe it as a regional or historical dish.

The page gives several regional names for the fruit: gooseberry in Africa, aguaymanto or golden berry in Peru, uvilla in Ecuador and physalis in the United Kingdom. It does not give a scientific name.

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The fruit

The page describes uchuvas as yellow and small, resembling tiny tomatillos with papery husks. It notes that fresh uchuvas can be hard to find in the United States.

Colombians use the fruit in sauces, desserts, drinks and salads, and the page lists a gooseberry preserve as another use.

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Method

The fruit is cooked with sugar and a little water for five to seven minutes until it softens. It is then blended with a small hot red pepper, and scallion, cilantro, lime juice and salt are stirred in.

The cooking softens and sweetens the fruit before blending. The sauce can be served warm or cold and is thinned with water if it is too thick.

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Serving and storage

The page recommends the sauce with patacones, plantain chips, fried yuca, empanadas and grilled chicken, fish or meat, and says the pepper can be adjusted for heat.

The page advises keeping it in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one week.

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History

The recipe page presents the sauce as Colombian and notes that Colombians use uchuvas in sauces, desserts, drinks and salads. It does not describe the sauce as a traditional or historical dish, so this record makes no claim of age.

Ingredients

Yield 1 cup · Scaling: source batch only

Uchuva (goldenberry)Yellow, papery husks removed.
237 mL1 cup as recorded
Sugar
15 mL1 tbsp as recorded
WaterThe method calls for a quarter cup; the recipe header lists half a cup, so add more to thin the sauce.
59 mL¼ cup as recorded
Hot pepper (ají)Diced; adjust for heat.
1 small red pepper
ScallionChopped.
1
CilantroChopped.
44 mL3 tbsp as recorded
LimeJuice.
15 mL1 tbsp as recorded
Salt
to taste

Method

Risks and precautions · Standard risk

Hot pepper heat varies; adjust the pepper to taste.

  1. Put the uchuvas, sugar and water in a small pot and cook over medium heat for five to seven minutes.
  2. Move everything to a blender with the hot pepper and blend.
  3. Add the scallion, lime juice, cilantro and salt to taste, adding more water if the sauce is too thick.
  4. Serve warm or cold.

Conditions

Yield1 cup
Active time15 min

Places

Colombia

Documented preparation · Country evidence

Presented as a Colombian recipe; the page does not describe it as a regional or historical dish.

See Colombiaon the mapLocation source 1 →

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