Machu Picchu Luxury Travel

Encuentro de Dos Lawas: Chuño and Fresh Corn, Two Andean Soups at One Cusco Table

By Florian Rolke. Sources checked October 21, 2026.

An illustrated serving concept for an Andean hotel table.

Chuncho in Ollantaytambo lists Encuentro de dos lawas: chuño y maíz, pairing a chuño preparation, described as dehydrated potato, with a fresh-corn preparation containing huacatay. The menu does not state how thick they are, whether either is smooth or textured, or when the herb is added. Ask how the two preparations are served and whether the dish is available.

Chuncho in Ollantaytambo lists an Encuentro de dos lawas: chuño y maíz, pairing one preparation made with chuño, described as dehydrated potato, with another made from fresh corn and huacatay. That short menu line gives two distinct bases and one named aromatic ingredient. It leaves their consistency, broth, proportions and presentation open. Those details are worth asking about before imagining two particular bowls or trying a separate home interpretation.

Two Lawas, One Course

The undated Spanish-language PDF, captured online on October 21, 2026, lists ENCUENTRO DE DOS LAWAS: CHUÑO Y MAÍZ in the soups and lawas section. One preparation uses chuño, which the menu explains as dehydrated potato; the other uses fresh corn with huacatay. The PDF's URL contains 2026/07, but no publication date is printed in the captured document. The menu establishes the paired bases without giving a recipe or defining a single required lawa texture.

That is the full extent of what the document verifies. It confirms the dish exists on this menu, under this exact name, with these two components and this one named herb. It does not describe broth type, portion size, garnishes or technique, and this article keeps a clear line between that documented menu entry and the editorial serving ideas discussed later.

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The ingredient and its prepared form, shown as an illustration.

The Chuño Side: Dehydrated Potato, Not a Grain

The menu explains chuño as dehydrated potato. That is enough to distinguish this base from the fresh corn in the other lawa, but not enough to identify its exact form or preparation. Ask whether the potato is served in pieces, broken down into the liquid or prepared another way. For a home interpretation, buy a labeled food-grade product and follow appropriate preparation instructions rather than assuming the fresh-potato method will work.

The menu identifies a dehydrated-potato base without specifying the chuño form, the color of the finished preparation or its consistency. Ask how it is prepared and presented. That answer can help you decide whether you want this paired course; it is more useful than assuming a particular appearance from the ingredient name.

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The Fresh Corn Side and Its Huacatay

The second preparation uses fresh corn with huacatay. It is the fresh-corn half of the pair, but the menu does not say whether the corn is blended, served in pieces or prepared another way. Ask how its consistency differs from the chuño preparation and how the herb is used. Those details will define the contrast in the kitchen's version.

Huacatay is the one herb the menu actually names, and it belongs specifically to this corn preparation. Sometimes called Andean black mint, huacatay carries a bold, mint-adjacent aroma with a savory edge that stands up to corn's sweetness. The menu does not say whether it is cooked in, finished on top, or blended, and each choice gives a different result, so this is a fair question to ask your server if you care about herb character.

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Why the Contrast Is the Point

The named contrast is between dehydrated potato and fresh corn with huacatay. Ask whether the preparations are smooth or textured, how thick each is and how they are served together. Those answers will tell you more than assuming that one must be dense and the other loose. At home you can deliberately choose different consistencies for two related bowls, while keeping that choice separate from Chuncho's preparation.

The name invites a comparison, but it does not prescribe whole kernels or a particular degree of blending. Ask what distinguishes the two preparations in the kitchen's version. If you prefer a lighter consistency or visible pieces, say so before ordering and find out what is possible. The menu's component list alone cannot tell you whether either texture will match that preference.

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What to Ask Before You Order

The menu wording is brief, so a few direct questions will tell you most of what you want to know. Ask what the base of each lawa is, whether the broth is vegetable, chicken or another stock, and whether the chuño is fully rehydrated and cooked until tender. Ask how the huacatay is used in the corn lawa, stirred in early, finished at the end, or served as a garnish, since that changes its aroma considerably.

It is also reasonable to ask whether the two lawas come as small tasting portions side by side or as full individual servings, and whether any bread, sides or garnishes accompany them, because none of that appears in the menu description. Availability of specific dishes can change; the menu observed in October 2026 is a snapshot, and current service is worth confirming directly with the restaurant.

  • What stock or broth forms the base of each lawa?
  • How is the huacatay added to the corn preparation?
  • Are the two lawas served as small tasting portions or full servings?
  • Do any accompaniments come with the course that the menu does not list?

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A second illustrated serving idea with the same ingredients.

What the Menu Does Not Tell You

A menu line is an honest but narrow source. The wording does not specify the cooking fat, if any, or its quantity; it does not state whether any sweetener, dairy, flour or additional protein appears in either bowl; and it does not describe the corn variety used in the fresh preparation. None of that means anything alarming; it simply means the document cannot answer those questions, and this article will not guess on the restaurant's behalf.

For visitors with allergies or strict ingredient requirements, that gap is the practical takeaway: the menu alone is not an ingredient list, so raise specific needs with the staff rather than assuming. This article also records no visit, tasting or contact with the restaurant; Chuncho appears here as the documented menu source, nothing more.

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An Editorial Adaptation for Your Own Kitchen

As a home serving idea, clearly separate from anything Chuncho has published, you can build the encounter yourself as two small unsweetened, broth-cooked bowls: one with properly sourced chuño simmered in a light savory stock until tender, one with fresh corn kernels and huacatay in its own broth. Keep them as two distinct servings rather than one blended soup, because the side-by-side contrast is the concept.

For sequencing, the community cooking principle is to add ingredients by how long they need: dense, slow-softening components go in earlier, delicate herbs and any tender greens go in near the end so their aroma survives. Build flavor by simmering aromatics directly in the broth or roasting vegetables separately, rather than starting from a fried base, and hold back a little fresh huacatay to finish the corn bowl at serving. Adjust quantities to your own taste; no tested recipe quantities are offered here.

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Working with Huacatay and Fresh Herbs

For a home version, rinse identified culinary herbs under running water without soap and dry them with a clean towel. Keep perishable herbs refrigerated. If you want whole aromatics to flavor the broth without remaining in the bowl, use a food-safe bundle or sachet and remove it before serving. Decide separately whether to add chopped huacatay; the menu does not disclose Chuncho's method.

If only dried herb is available, remember that drying concentrates and changes aroma, so dried and fresh are not interchangeable by volume. Start with roughly a third of the fresh quantity, let it hydrate, taste, then adjust. Which herb matters too: robust ones hold up to early, longer cooking, while delicate leafy herbs are best added in the final minutes or at the table.

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Texture Decisions: Broth, Body and Recovery

A few practical calls define the finished bowls. Decide whether each lawa is a broth-forward soup or a soft, stew-like plate; the classic distinction is that boiled ingredients get drained while a stew keeps its seasoned liquid as part of the dish. For more body without flour, mash a portion of the soup's own cooked potato or corn and stir it back in before reaching for any other thickener.

If liquid evaporates during cooking, the soup simply concentrates; add hot water or stock gradually and taste again, since seasoning and aroma may need a lift. That recovery fixes concentration, not a scorched base, so keep the heat gentle. In the Sacred Valley's altitude, judge doneness by checking the actual chuño and corn rather than trusting a fixed timetable, and expect simmering behavior to differ from sea-level habits.

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Questions about the ingredient and the meal

These questions come from published reader discussions and food-publisher FAQs. Some concern the featured ingredient; others concern the grains, vegetables or meat served with it.

What order should I add ingredients when making soup?

Sequence ingredients by how long each needs to cook. Dense, slow-softening pieces like potatoes or rehydrated chuño can go in early, while delicate leaves and fresh herbs belong near the end so their aroma survives. Build early flavor by simmering aromatics in the broth rather than frying them first. The published Chuncho menu does not reveal its kitchen sequence, so treat this as general soup logic rather than the restaurant's method.

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Scaling up water for cooking soup

Scale by your intended servings and your actual bowls, not by multiplying the original water alone. Ingredients absorb liquid, and absorption grows with volume, so start with slightly less than you think you need and adjust with hot water or stock as the soup cooks. Adding liquid is quick; boiling it off again is slow. Judge the final consistency against the bowls you plan to serve in.

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Doubling a soup recipe with a smaller than necessary pot

Use a second suitable pot if a doubled batch would crowd the first. One community cook suggests making a more concentrated soup and adding liquid afterward, provided there is enough liquid for proper cooking from the start. Keep room for stirring and maintain sufficient liquid around the ingredients; an undersized pot is not suitable for every recipe.

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Cooking time for vegetables in plain water versus in a soup

Cooking time depends on the piece size and on what else is in the liquid, so there is no single universal correction factor between plain water and soup. Starches and seasonings in a soup can change how quickly vegetables soften. In practice, add the dense pieces earlier, add delicate ones later, and check tenderness directly by tasting or piercing the actual pieces rather than relying on a fixed timetable.

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soup with evaporated water and then added water

Evaporation concentrates a soup, so adding hot water back is a legitimate way to restore the volume you wanted. Taste afterward, because seasoning and the more delicate aromas may have concentrated or faded and could need a small adjustment. A fresh addition of the herbs used in the dish can help. No refried aromatic base is required for the editorial broth-based version of this concept.

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Alternative thickener for soups and stews

A cornstarch-and-water slurry is one community cooking option: mix it in cold liquid first, then add it gradually to the hot soup while stirring. For a thicker home lawa without an added thickener, you can instead reduce the amount of free broth served with the already cooked solids. The menu does not state whether Chuncho thickens either preparation or how it does so.

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I accidentally boiled away most of my soup, what can I do to recover it?

Add hot water or hot stock gradually, stir, and taste until the consistency returns to what you wanted, since evaporation mainly concentrates the soup rather than ruining it. A concentrated soup can also be served as-is if you like the intensity, thinned at the table. The one thing dilution cannot fix is a scorched base; if the bottom burned, that flavor stays in the pot.

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What is the best way to turn soup into stew without using flour?

A true stew is more about less free liquid than about thickening, so pour off or hold back some broth, or add more of the already appropriate cooked solids, such as extra potato or corn. Simply thickening the liquid changes texture without creating a stew-like dish. Flour and noodles are not automatic additions here; for this dish, its own cooked ingredients are the natural body builders.

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What is the difference between boiled vegetables and stewed vegetables?

The difference is mostly what happens to the liquid. Boiled vegetables are typically drained and served on their own, while a stew keeps its seasoned cooking liquid and serves vegetables and liquid together in the bowl. For a lawa-style plate, decide deliberately whether a little savory broth is part of the presentation you want, since the Andean tradition here leans toward soft ingredients served with their liquid.

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How to wash dirty herbs in bulk

Separate the leaves, rinse away visible dirt under running water, drain them well, and then chop. The community answer describes commercial equipment, an air-agitated water vat followed by an unheated spinner, which refreshes large farm volumes; a home kitchen should not copy industrial machinery. Ordinary gentle rinsing under running water, without soap, and drying with a clean towel is the appropriate household method.

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How to measure out fresh herbs when the recipe calls for 'a tablespoon of chopped herb'?

A tablespoon of chopped herb means the prepared, already-chopped amount, not a fixed count of leaves or sprigs, since the same herb can chop to different volumes depending on leaf size and how finely you cut it. For consistency across your own batches, weigh your prepared chopped amount once and note it, then reproduce that weight. No single grams-per-tablespoon figure is valid for every herb species.

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Do fresh herbs have properties that dried herbs do not?

As a flavor matter, yes: drying removes water, shrinks the leaf, and carries off some of the volatile compounds responsible for fresh aroma, so the two forms behave differently in a dish. A common working adjustment is using more fresh herb than dried, starting around three times as much, then tasting. Some herbs hold flavor when dried better than others. Keep this as a cooking answer; the vitamin discussion in the community thread is not health evidence.

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Herbs in Dressing - Fresh vs Dried

Fresh and dried herbs genuinely produce different effects, so decide which character you want. If substituting dried for fresh, use less at first, a common starting ratio is one part dried to three parts fresh, and let the dried herb hydrate before adjusting. Delicate fresh herbs are best added close to serving to preserve their aroma. There is no exact universal substitution ratio across every herb species, so taste as you go.

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Should you add specific garden-fresh herbs to a stew at the beginning or the end?

It depends on the actual herb. Robust herbs such as thyme, rosemary or oregano withstand long cooking and can go in early when you want their flavor infused into the dish; delicate leafy herbs lose their fresh aroma quickly and are better added in the last minutes or at serving. Apply that principle by herb character rather than as a fixed rule, and note the menu gives no evidence of when Chuncho adds its huacatay.

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How to Store Fresh Herbs

Keep fresh herbs refrigerated at or below 40°F, and avoid leaving the leaves wet or crushed. Wrapping them in a paper towel before bagging helps manage surface moisture, and it is better to wash them just before preparing rather than before storage. Handle them gently so the leaves are not bruised. No specific shelf-life promise follows from community storage anecdotes; judge each bunch by its condition.

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Cooking lemon juice into stew

A small amount of lemon added near serving gives a brighter, fresher citrus accent than the same juice cooked for a long time, since the aromatic compounds that make lemon distinctive dissipate with extended heat. Add it gradually and taste. An early splash mainly contributes generic acidity. Lemon is not a named component of the Encuentro de Dos Lawas menu entry, so treat it as an optional personal adjustment.

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Timing Stock/Broth Perfectly

Long-cooked stock and vegetables meant to be eaten at serving do not need the same schedule. If you want defined texture in the finished bowl, add the serving vegetables late in the cooking, keeping the long simmer for the broth itself. The source discussion concerns veal stock specifically, so transfer only that general sequencing principle, not its meat timetable, to a vegetable-forward dish like a lawa.

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What is the Purpose of Using Onions in (Almost) Every Soup Recipe?

Onion is a flavor ingredient, prized because browning it produces savory, aromatic compounds that deepen a soup, but it is not a mandatory component of every recipe. For a broth-based adaptation of the two-lawas idea, you can simmer onion or other aromatics directly in the broth, or roast vegetables separately for depth. There is no need to reproduce a fried onion base to build a satisfying savory bowl.

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How to keep seasonings from separating in soup?

For whole herb pieces, a herb bundle or food-safe sachet can flavor the broth and then be removed. That community technique addresses pieces floating separately; it does not make finely chopped leaves dissolve or prevent all settling. For an editorial lawa, choose whether you want removable whole aromatics or visible chopped herbs, and add them accordingly.

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Can boiling a soup too low result in less flavor?

A lightly cooked soup can indeed taste fresher and less concentrated than a long, hard simmer, because flavor compounds need time and heat to develop and meld. Neither direction is automatically better; decide whether you want a bright, just-cooked character or a deeper, integrated one, and taste the actual ingredients as you go. A longer or harder boil is not by itself a guarantee of more flavor.

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Leave time for the Sacred Valley

Comparing fresh-corn and chuño lawas is a way to notice how one Andean food tradition uses very different ingredients. If you are extending your Sacred Valley stay around Machu Picchu, consider The SoulSearching Experience: five full days with Florian Rolke, in a group of 8–15 participants. Discuss dining arrangements separately.

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Sources and reading notes

The menu and ingredient sources support the distinctions described above. The serving illustrations are concepts. Restaurant menus can change; confirm the dish and preparation directly when booking.