Tacu Tacu (Crispy Rice and Bean Cake)
Leftover rice and beans mashed with an ají amarillo and onion base, pan-fried into a golden, crisp-edged cake and topped with a fried egg and salsa criolla.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Make the base
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook about 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the garlic, paste and oregano, and cook 2 minutes more until fragrant.
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 red onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp paste
- ½ tsp dried oregano
✅ Done when: onion is soft and the mixture smells fragrant
Mix with the beans and rice
Add the mashed beans to the pan and stir for 2 minutes. Add the rice and salt, then mix well, pressing with a spoon, until everything sticks together into a thick paste.
- 400 g cooked beans, mashed
- 400 g cooked rice
- ½ tsp salt
✅ Done when: mixture holds together like a thick paste when pressed with a spoon
Shape and fry
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Make the salsa criolla
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Fry the eggs and serve
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Make the base
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook about 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the garlic, paste and oregano, and cook 2 minutes more until fragrant.
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 red onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp paste
- ½ tsp dried oregano
✅ Done when: onion is soft and the mixture smells fragrant
Mix with the beans and rice
Add the mashed beans to the pan and stir for 2 minutes. Add the rice and salt, then mix well, pressing with a spoon, until everything sticks together into a thick paste.
- 400 g cooked beans, mashed
- 400 g cooked rice
- ½ tsp salt
✅ Done when: mixture holds together like a thick paste when pressed with a spoon
Shape and fry
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Make the salsa criolla
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Fry the eggs and serve
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The Story Behind the Dish
Tacu tacu was created by Afro-Peruvian cooks in colonial Lima, who turned the leftover rice and beans of yesterday's meals into something new and delicious. The name may come from the Quechua takuy, meaning 'to mix'.
It began as a humble breakfast and is now served in top Lima restaurants, often topped with steak, seafood in sauce or a fried egg and banana.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Crunchy outside, soft inside and full of flavour, it's one of the world's best leftover dishes.
💡 Fun Fact
The trick to the perfect shape is the 'roll': cooks flip the mixture over itself in the pan to form a long, smooth oval.
Lima
-12.05°S, -77.04°W
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