One of the best sandwiches ever: Choripán con chimichurri salsa, South American street food at its best!
During this World Cup food series I spent a lot of time looking for recipes. Many of the countries participating at the FIFA World Cup were completely new to me when it came to food. Actually, except for some of the participating European countries and maybe Mexico and Korea, I had no clue what I was going to cook and take photographs of.
And I especially had difficulties with the Latin American countries. Not because the offer was not large enough, it definitely was, but mostly because I did not know exactly, what dish I should dedicate to one country or another.
Take this Choripán con chimichurri for instance. I knew I would certainly cook it the minute I saw a picture of it and read the name (such a cool name to pronounce I find, it just fills your mouth with all those ch-s and r-s).
It is the perfect recipe for a World Cup food series, something I would definitely eat if I was ever to find myself lost in a football/soccer stadium somewhere in South America (OK, very slight chances of that ever happening), but I would buy it in a moment if I was to see it somewhere else.
Choripán – Chorizo and Chimichurri Sandwich – Uruguayan Food
But back to the difficulty I was mentioning before: the problem of not knowing if I was to make the choripán con chimichurri for Uruguay, Argentina, Peru or Brazil. Well, it was more of a fight between Uruguay and Argentina.
You see, the choripán con chimichurri is a very popular street food in all of those countries and in Chile and Puerto Rico as well. Not to mention US, where it became very popular especially in the regions with larger Cuban communities, like Miami.
In the end, I chose Uruguay over Argentina. Why? Because there were the empanadas as well, which pose the exact same problem. But I decided to give empanadas to Argentina, because for some reason I always associate them with Argentina. Must be the telenovelas I used to watch as a child… I don’t really know.
What is Choripán con chimichurri?
Choripán is a sandwich made with chorizo and crusty white bread, something like a baguette. So the name is a combination of the two main ingredients chori from chorizo and pan – bread: choripán.
Chimichurri is the sauce that is very generously slathered onto these choripanes. Apparently, the chimichurri sauce originates in Argentina and Uruguay (again both countries), but it is popular all over Central and South America.
According to Wikipedia, the name chimichurri comes from the Basque world tximitxurri, that can be translated as “a mixture of several things in no particular order”.
Chimichurri is an amazing sauce made with olive oil, garlic, parsley, vinegar, chili and oregano, one of the most popular accompaniments for barbecued meats or churrasco in Latin America.
There are two versions of the chimichurri sauce: the green one, the one I will post today and the red chimichurri, where red peppers and tomatoes are added as well. I am definitely going to try that version with our next barbecue, if it’s only half as good as the green version, it will still be amazing.
What can I say about the choripán con chimichurri ? It is delicious, I could eat it every week!!! My whole family loved it and the guests we once had, who got to taste my choripán con chimichurri, said that eating at my place was better than going out. 🙂 That’s nice to hear, isn’t’ it? 🙂
Well, they never had an original, real choripán con chimichurri, so they could not even compare it (neither do I as a matter of fact, I only know my version of a choripán), but still it is a nice compliment for somebody who loves cooking and feeding people so much.
How to make choripán con chimichurri – chorizo and chimichurri sandwich
Well, it is just a sandwich after all, so you will not really have any difficulties making it.
Start with making the chimichurri sauce. What you will need are fresh parsley and fresh oregano. Fresh parsley should not be a problem, one can always buy fresh parsley just about anywhere. But just in case you will not be able to find fresh oregano, you could replace that with dried oregano.
Chop the fresh herbs finely, but don’t be tempted to puree the chimichurri sauce. Mix the other ingredients together and add the fresh herbs at the end. Allow the sauce to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, this will allow the flavors to develop.
You could make the sauce one day in advance as well. In this case, cover it well and keep it in the fridge. Take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving to allow it to reach room temperature before you serve it. The oil might look weird after spending the night in the fridge, but don’t worry about it, it will look normal again once it reaches room temperature.
For the chorizo, buy fresh small sausages. Fresh chorizo are quite a new discovery for us here in rural Germany. I have been buying the dry and very spicy version for years now, but fresh chorizo is rather new for us. And I love it, I buy a pack of it every time we make a barbecue nowadays, typical German sausages are very good, but chorizo is something different, it really is a great addition to our regular barbecue.
I cooked the chorizo on the grill pan. First I browned it all around and when it was really brown, I split it lengthwise and grilled it on the cut side as well until it was cooked through. This, apparently, is the typical way to serve the chorizo in a choripán in Uruguay. It also reduces the cooking time, which is never a bad thing.
When it comes to bread, it should be some white, crusty bread. I used small French style baguettes, but you can use any similar white bread available in your region. My baguettes were about 12-14 cm/ 4.7-5.5 inches long and that was quite good, the sausages fitted snugly inside and one sandwich was also a perfectly sized portion.
Make a tomato and onion salsa as well, it fits the choripánes very well.
Only make the choripánes just before serving. Cut the baguettes lengthwise and grill or toast them slightly on the cut side. Add a generous spoonful of the chimichurri sauce on one of the bread halves, place the chorizo halves on top and add some more sauce over the sausages. Add some tomato and onion salsa and top with the second baguette half. Enjoy!!!
Chimichurri: Chop the fresh parley and oregano. Set aside. Grate the garlic cloves and give them to a small bowl. Add the finely chopped chili or the chili flakes. Add the red wine vinegar, water, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir well. Slowly add the olive oil while stirring, so that the mixture emulsifies slightly. Stir in the chopped herbs. Adjust the taste with more salt and lemon juice, if necessary. Cover and let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes to allow the flavors to develop. The chimichurri sauce can be made in advance and stored in the fridge. Take out of the fridge about 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving to allow the sauce to reach room temperature. Tomato and onion salsa: Deseed the tomatoes and dice them. Chop the onion finely. Mix the tomatoes and the onions in a bowl and add the olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. Choripán: Heat a grill pan. Brown the chorizo sausages on all sides, turning often. When deeply brown all over, take them out of the pan, cut them lengthwise and give the halves back to the pan, cut-side down. Grill for another 2 or 3 minutes until cooked through. Take them out of the pan and wipe the grill pan clean with kitchen paper. Cut the baguettes lengthwise. Grill them in the grill pan, cut-side down, until lightly crispy on the cut side. Alternatively, you can split them and warm them in the hot oven (at about 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5-8 minutes or until hot and slightly crispy). To make the choripánes, add a generous spoonful of the chimichurri sauce on one of the bread halves, place the chorizo halves on top and add some more sauce over the sausages. Add some tomato and onion salsa and top with the second baguette half. Serve immediately.Choripán – Chorizo and Chimichurri Sandwich – Uruguayan Food
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2 comments
Love that you had a world food series!! We had world cup fever in this house as well (my son loves following it) and it was fun having things like empanadas and waffles and such at our house, too! We tired but no where as extensively as you did. Way to go. It’s so fun to eat internationally and diversify, learning at the same time. What fun and deliciousness.
The Portuguese chourico is popular in my area. It is garlicky and liberally seasoned with paprika. My family loves it! Needless to say, these choripánes would get devoured around here! We have never had it served with chimchurri but this looks and sounds deliciuos!!