ride the pig!

It was only a matter of time before someone started a Peruvian food truck, and even less time before I found my way to its blue plastic windows. Enter Sanguchon, the mobile food kitchen from the man behind three Peruvian restaurants in the Bay Area... I'd been to Piqueo's in Bernal Heights about two years ago and I found the food quite delicious. However, the marinated garbanzo beans - their version of free bread that was highly praised in an old version of the 100 Things to Eat List - was a huge letdown. Let's just say if you want to make garbanzo beans more appealing, don't serve them cold.

Anyways, back to the tasty matter at hand...

Sanguchon is decked out in their cute pig logo and Peruvian flags

how could you not want a lomo saltado sandwich!?

Even though it was raining and I had already brought a lunch and had to set it aside, I knew I had to seek out this vehicle of deliciousness at Truckstop. Here, Bunny shows off her lomo saltado sandwich...

bursting with lomo goodness

I must order a sandwich next time... if not for the lomo (which I already love) then for the adorable little wrappers!

That'll do, pig. That'll do.

Instead, I gave in to my craving for ají de gallina and chose the wrap. Ají de gallina is shredded chicken in a sauce made from the ever-present ají pepper but it's not spicy; the sauce is almost always thickened with some cream. There's also lots of rice, a few potato chunks, onions, and a squeeze of lime, another quintessential Peruvian ingredient. The wrap is comparable to Curry Up Now's chicken tikka masala burrito without the effects of feeling like you're going to burst at the seams.

Also, Sanguchon has the absolute best chicha morada I have ever had stateside. THE BEST! The purple corn is slightly sweet, the punch is spiked with just the right touch of cinnamon, and the little fruit bits make it look like sangria. And faking alcoholic beverages at work is necessary for maintaining that devil-may-care attitude. You know you want it...

ají de gallina wrap and chicha morada...
am I in San Francisco or Trujillo?

For dessert, Bunny offered one of her alfajor cookies to me... the dough is soft to the touch yet maintains its shape. The filling is more of a rich dark caramel than a dulce de leche flavor, which I enjoyed very much. A chewy, not-too-sweet ending to a very happy meal.

Do not pop entire cookie into mouth or you may find yourself unable to chew.

Now to properly represent Peruvian street food, all Sanguchon needs to do is add anticuchos to the menu!