In the Canary Islands, you can find a portion of „Papas“ – as these delicious Canarian salt-crusted wrinkled potatoes are commonly known – on every corner for as little as 3.50 euros. Here’s how quick and easy it is to make your own Canarian salt-crusted wrinkled potatoes:
Ingredients for papas arrugadas
For about four portions, you will need:
- 1 kg of floury potatoes
- 150 grams of sea salt
Papas arrugadas recipe and method
Making papas arrugadas is incredibly simple, and the preparation takes just three minutes. The cooking process takes a total of 30 to 40 minutes:
Step 1: Preparation
First, wash the potatoes thoroughly. Then place them in a saucepan and cover them halfway with water.
Step 2: Add salt
Now sprinkle coarse sea salt over the potatoes. You’ll need four tablespoons of salt for one kilo of potatoes. However, depending on your taste, you can use up to a quarter of the weight of the potatoes.
Step 3: Boil the potatoes
Once this has been done, the pot is either left open or a folded tea towel is placed between the rim of the pot and the lid. This allows the water to evaporate whilst boiling. The water in the pot is then brought to the boil. The boiling and cooking time is then around 20 minutes – the wrinkled appearance and the salt crust will take a little longer to develop, but more on that later.
Step 4: Making a classic salt crust
There are two ways to give the papas arrugadas their characteristic wrinkled appearance and salt crust. We prefer the classic method, but we’ll also let you know how to do it more quickly.
To cook papas in the traditional way, cook them until the salted water has completely evaporated during the cooking process. Once there is no more water left in the pan, the potatoes are left to dry over a low heat for about 20 to 30 minutes, until they are finally completely wrinkled. But be careful: to make sure nothing burns, you should keep a close eye on the pan at all times!
Step 4.1: An alternative, slightly quicker way to cook papas arrugadas
If you’re in a hurry, you can alternatively drain off most of the water once the cooking time is up. The rest should then be left to simmer uncovered until the remaining water has evaporated. This way, the potatoes will gradually take on a slightly wrinkled appearance and develop that delicious salty crust.
All done! You can now take the papas arrugadas out of the saucepan and serve them. We hope you enjoy your delicious potato dish from the Canary Islands!
Papas arrugadas in Canary Islands cuisine
Papas arrugadas, Canary Islands potatoes with a salt crust, are served with mojo verde and mojo rojo. These are the two typical Canary Islands sauces. Incidentally, these wrinkled Spanish potatoes with a salt crust are not just a snack. They form a traditional side dish to a wide variety of dishes from the Canary Islands.
Delicious mojo recipes for the accompaniments
You really should serve both mojos together:
See also:
You can also find more typical Canary Islands recipes here!
Nutritional values for Papas arrugadas
Papas arrugadas contain around 180 calories (745 kj) per portion (around 250 grams). They also contain around 0.25 grams of fat, 42 grams of carbohydrates and 4.5 grams of protein.
By the way: In the Canary Islands, ‚papas arrugadas‘ are made using the wrinkled, heirloom potato varieties known as ‚papas negras‘ or ‚papas bonitas‘. Outside the Canary Islands, where these varieties are not available to buy, you can also use local potatoes – preferably floury ones.
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