Mama Vecas Peruvian Mexican Cuisine

THIS RESTAURANT IS SADLY NOW CLOSED

Edmond Location:
840 W. Danforth Rd
Edmond, OK 73003
405.844.8780
Norman Location:
2551 Hemphill
Norman, OK 73069
405.573.4003

This week my featured restaurant on Dishin & Dishes on Rise & Shine Oklahoma is Mama Veca’s. The owners at Mama Veca’s invited us to bring along some extra people this week so Mr. Wonderful and three of our kids headed out to Edmond for an intriguing dinner.

Mama Veca’s is located at the corner of Danforth and Kelly in the end of a strip mall.

At what I first thought would be a small place turned out to be a large spacious beautiful interior.

Upon leaving the lobby, you will first see the bar and Mr. Wonderful got there a little early with Nancy, our photographer and they snapped a picture of this.

They were so taken with the man’s dish – one of their many types of Ceviche, they asked him to take a picture.

We’ll talk about Ceviche a little later.  First let me introduce you to Peruvian Cuisine, because if you’re like me, you have no eartly idea of what this cuisine is….

Which is why you need to venture outside typical American cuisine and experiment by going to Mama Veca’s!

What I found about Peruvian cuisine is that it is a blend of cultures and countries.  We tasted elements of Spain (Paella), elements of China (Fried Rice), and also of Italy (pasta with pesto) while at Mama Veca’s.

Juan Castro was a wealth of information about the chefs of Peruvian cuisine in Oklahoma City.

Until recently, most of these men shifted their attention to Mexican cuisine mostly due to the fact that they couldn’t find their homeland ingredients such as the large Peruvian corn and the yellow aji peppers that are incorporated into most of their sauces.  When markets like Ferria Latina began to open in Oklahoma City, they were able to begin featuring their favorite dishes from Peru.  Peruvian food is rising in the world as one of the best cuisines and you will begin hearing about it more and more.

So on to the food… right?

The kids were happy to see that there were traditional style chips, salsa and queso coming out.

Beware of that green salsa…that stuff is hot!

Our first dish was an appetizer called Papa a la Huancaina.

I would say this would be the Peruvian version of mashed potatoes and it’s smothered in a cream sauce made with milk, yellow peppers, a blend of cheese olive oil, lime juice and it’s served with a chopped boiled egg and some sliced olives.

Our next appetizer came out and it was Tiradito.

Tiradito is thinly slice white fish that is rolled and prepared ceviche style (cooked in citrus juice) and it also had hints of ginger and once again the traditional yellow pepper sauce.

Next came the kids favorite appetizer – Calamari, or as the menu referred to it – Calamar Frito!

This was a tower of tender (not overcooked like it often is) breaded calamari rings that came with a tarter dipping sauce and again was surrounded by the traditional salad of pickled red onions corn and peppers and some french fries.  Superb!

Now this one could be an appetizer, or it could be a meal and it is what Peru is known for – Ceviche.

The  version we got was the Ceviche de Pescado and it was delicious.  It was a mixture of lime juice “cooked” white fish  with yellow and red peruvian chillies that added a little kick to it.  The fish was also accompanied by sweet potato chunks and the large Peruvian corn kernels, sliced red onions and a little treat – deep fried corn kernels as well that reminded us of Corn Nuts.

Now, the main courses started appearing.  Our chefs of the evening brought out two different versions of the same classic dish in Peru – Lomo Saltado and Pollo Saltado.

 

This dish consisted of lean beef sauteed in some kind of amazing sauce with onions tomatoes and Peruvian spices.  This was served with steamed rice and topped with some crispy, but meaty french fries.

I can’t tell you how delicious the beef was on this dish.  It was tender and the beef, onions and tomatoes were warm and had soaked up some of the delicious sauce.

Here is the chicken version.

We actually got to take our usual trek back to the very spacious kitchen to see the Lomo version  cooked.  I found it interesting that this large kitchen is divided up into two sides – one for the Mexican cuisine and one for the Peruvian cuisine.

And we also saw them start this dish…my favorite of the evening.  Peruvian Chaufas – or Chinese style fried rice.

This was so delicious.  It was fried with bean sprouts, eggs,  snap peas, peppers, shrimp and chicken and mushrooms and wrapped in a pretty bow of thinly bias sliced green onions.  There was a faint hint of ginger and I believe cinnamon.  I took one bite of this and thought …this is the dish I’ll come back for.

But we weren’t done yet.

Arriving next was Paella – on the menu known as Arroz con Mariscos – Peruvian Paella.

This was mussels, calamari, and shrimp a top a bed of rice cooked in tomato and saffron.  I truly enjoyed this dish as well.

And finally, this was the kids favorite dish.

Tallarines Verdes – Peruvian basil pesto flanked with 4 ounces of breaded fried steak and deep fried potato wedges.  We barely got a bite of this one.

It was amazing to me to see Chinese, Italian, and Spanish along with the Peruvian tastes all on one menu and we never even touched a Mexican dish from the other menu!

If Peruvian doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, try the Mexican food.  That may be a whole other visit for us.

We appreciated the generosity and attention spent on each detail of our meal, and meeting owners William and Monica Chunga.

We also appreciated the time Juan spent with us and both he and William gave us so much information about Peruvian cuisine.

This was not only just a dining experience for us but an education as well.

Tune in tomorrow morning to KAUT43 at 7:15 a.m. for your opportunity to hear more of our visit and also purchase a $50 gift certificate for $25.  You can click on the button below to go straight to the page!