Possibly the best Peruvian restaurant in Shanghai, Colca is a home away from home for a significant number of the city’s expats, including co-founder Eduardo Vargas aka ‘don of Peruvian cuisine.’
“If you add Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina and other smaller countries to the equation, there are approximately 5,000 South Americans in Shanghai,” mused Vargas.
Seeing as Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion in Peru, it stands to reason that Christmas has always been part and parcel of the chef’s life. And this winter, Vargas and team are bringing a bit of festive flair to Colca’s authentic Peruvian menu, which spans brunch to light bites as well as bigger plates.
The Nikkei Prawn Crispy Bites and Grilled Beef & Crispy Causa
Straddling the fence between naughty and nice, the two new dishes above have a fried component but are also topped with fresh, colourful ingredients.
Inspired by buffalo wings, the Nikkei Prawn Crispy Bites sees flash-fried, homemade fish-paste coated with sweet dashi mayo and togarashi — two ingredients that point at Japanese culture’s influence on Peruvian cuisine.
Like revenge, Peruvian causa is a dish traditionally served cold. At Colca, however, the tiered potato casserole is turned into a warming dish for winter.
To make the Grilled Beef & Crispy Causa, potato cakes are first breaded and then deep-fried before serving as the base for beef and cute quail eggs — a ‘brunch dish’ that we’d happily have at all hours.
(Top to bottom, left to right) Seabass Avocado Tiradito, Tuna Uchucuta Tiradito, Cauliflower, and Wagyu Beef Tiradito
Certain Peruvian creations though, are best served in a raw or semi-cooked state — all the better to taste the quality ingredients for what they are. Take, for instance, the three types of tiradito we sampled.
Although the Peruvian dish known as ceviche has charmed the world over, its ‘cousin’ called tiradito has a more timid presence in food media.
They are easily confused for one another, so here’s our cheatsheet for telling them apart: ceviche comes cubed, whereas tiradito is always sliced, and the former is always marinated in advance, whereas the latter is sauced just before serving.
Available on Colca’s special menu, the Seabass Avocado Tiradito turns heads with its contrast of black ink chips against snow white, translucent seabass strips. And then there’s the tightly rolled Tuna Uchucuta Tiradito beautifully presented with uchucuta (ground chillies) salsa and the Wagyu Beef Tiradito for those who prefer to venture into the realm of meaty delights.
It’s also important to stave off sickness by eating your greens in the winter, so add Colca’s new Cauliflower dish to your diet. A whole head of cauliflower is marinated in a miso purée and mole, and paired with spicy pumpkin and pickles.
Slow-Cooked Beef Ribs, Maimoa Lamb Shank, and Squid Relleno
Not of little import, six hours is a significant amount of time that can be devoted to achieving great things. At Colca, ‘great things’ translates to the restaurant’s new dish of six-hour, slow-braised beef.
Using a handsome hunk of meat, the Slow-Cooked Beef Ribs has a melt-in-mouth texture that made us sink into our seats, eyes rolled back with near-pornographic pleasure.
Meanwhile, the new Maimoa Lamb Shank is another a worthy contender in our imagined award for ‘Shanghai’s Most Mouthwatering Meat Dishes.’ Is it just us or does scraping tender meat directly off the bone awaken some sort of primal instinct?
Magnifying the importance of root vegetables in Peru, which is home to around 4,000 known species of potatoes, the dish of Squid Relleno is paraded with bright purple and orange swirls of sweet potato and pumpkin mash.
A relleno typically refers to stuffed vegetables, but this tongue-in-cheek creation sees a whole stuffed squid in the name of holiday indulgence.
The Souffle, Peruvian Blueberries Cheesecake, and Apple Flower de Hojaldre
Regulars rarely leave the restaurant without capping their meal with Colca’s signature, the Peruvian flan. Christmas came early, however, as the kitchen has cooked up three new sweet endings: two served warm and one chilled.
Those partial towards fruity desserts can partake of the new Apple Flower de Hojaldre, an edible ‘sculpture’ served with spiced syrup, or the Peruvian Blueberries Cheesecake. Fun fact: To quote the BBC, Peru has experienced a “fast and furious blueberry boom” in recent years.
The Soufflé
Rather like multihyphenate rockstars Prince and Madonna, icons need little introduction; a rule that applies to ‘The Soufflé.’
Egg whites are beaten into sublime submission for this dessert, which should be eaten quickly before it loses its ‘libido.’
Part of the Azul Group’s cosmos, Colca provides set menus in addition to à la carte offerings. Both the Tapas Set Menu (for two diners) and the Laoban Set Menu (feeding four to five diners) are bolstered by many of the aforementioned dishes, making said sets the best way to experience a whole breadth of new, festive dishes at once.
For Reservations & Questions
📍Colca, 199 Hengshan Road,
Second floor, Xuhui District
☎️ 021 05401 5366
⏰ Daily, 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM |
5 PM - 12 midnight
All photos were taken by Time Out Shanghai.
This article is not to be replicated without prior consent.
