Chuno (freeze-dried potato) substitutes

Made by the same principle as tunta, just industrially, so it behaves in a stew the way chuno does.

Best for

chairo, soups, stews, chuno phuti, long-simmered dishes

This is the closest match available in an ordinary shop or online, and it is a genuinely good one for white chuno or tunta. The pieces rehydrate to a dense, slightly chewy potato that holds its edges through an hour of simmering instead of dissolving. What is missing is any trace of the earthy, faintly fermented smell that black chuno gives a soup, so a chairo made with it tastes clean and potato-forward rather than deep and ancient. Soak for at least an hour in warm water and drain before use.

The least-bad fresh option, with one preparation step that makes a real difference.

Best for

chairo, soups, stews, hearty dishes

Cut waxy potatoes such as Charlotte, new or red potatoes into two-centimetre chunks, boil until barely tender, then cool them completely before adding them to the soup near the end. Chilling firms the starch and stops them collapsing, which is the main failure people hit when they use fresh potato in place of chuno. The chunks still go softer and creamier than chuno ever does, and the stew loses the slightly chewy resistance that makes chairo interesting. Never use floury baking potatoes here, which will disintegrate into the broth.

A different tuber but the right idea: a dried starchy root that stays firm and slightly chewy after long cooking.

Best for

chairo, stews, soups, braises

Dried yuca holds its shape better than any fresh potato and gives that dense, almost waxy bite chuno has. The flavour is sweeter and more neutral, and the texture is more fibrous and stringy, so the stew reads as a cassava stew rather than a potato one. Soak thoroughly and boil until fully tender, and discard the soaking water. Cassava must always be cooked fully through and never eaten raw or undercooked.

Specifically for chuno phuti, the dish where soaked chuno is crumbled and scrambled with egg, onion and cheese.

Best for

chuno phuti, scrambles, breakfast dishes, fried potato dishes

This one is better than it sounds. Potato that has been frozen and thawed loses water and develops exactly the slightly rubbery, separate-grained texture that crumbled chuno has in a scramble, which fresh grated potato never does. Squeeze the thawed potato dry in a tea towel first, then fry hard before the egg goes in. The flavour is plain potato rather than fermented, so be generous with the onion, the cheese and the salt.

A traditional Andean pantry item that fills the same structural role, holding shape through hours of simmering.

Best for

chairo, soups, stews, hearty broths

Chairo often contains mote alongside chuno already, so adding more of it is a plausible move rather than a compromise. Hominy is chewy, holds up indefinitely and gives the soup real substance. The flavour, though, is unmistakably corn: sweet, nutty and lime-treated, so the finished soup tastes like a corn soup with lamb rather than a potato one. Use this when you want the right mouthfeel and are relaxed about the flavour changing.

Not a replacement for the pieces, but a way to recover the body chuno gives a broth.

Best for

thickening soups, chairo, rescuing a thin stew

Chuno slowly sheds starch into a soup and gives chairo a slightly thick, clinging broth. If you leave the chuno out entirely, that body disappears and the soup tastes watery. Stirring a spoonful of potato flakes in at the end fixes the consistency without pretending to be chuno. It adds nothing textural, so pair it with one of the chunky options above rather than using it alone.