Hi !

As I’m about to leave the gastronomic hotspot of South America, I think I should share the recipe of the lomo saltado, a Peruvian beef stir-fry. Ingredient, cooking and taste wise, you are not going for a lot of trouble, except of course for vegans, as animals will be armed in the making of this fine dish the rest of us should enjoy very easily.

Ingredients (for two):

• 300gr of beef, the filet, cut in 2x2x1cm dice
• 2 plum tomatoes, the core, liquid and seed removed, cut in 1cm wide strips
• 1 large red onion, cut grossly in 8 half quarters (remove the center part)
• Soy sauce
• Red wine vinegar or pisco
• Cilantro
• 2 green onion (the light green part)
• Sal and pepper
• 2 potatoes (for the French fries)
• Rice

The recipe is actually requiring three parallel operation: cooking the rice, frying the French fries and cooking the beef stir-fry. As the two first one are a no-brainer, I’ll focus on the last one. Maybe just a comment on the fries, which should be large, and preferably with the skin if the potatoes allow it.

So, let’s go with cooking the lomo saltado:

1. Add salt and pepper on the beef.
2. Warm up the wok on high heat, add the vegetal oil (from the side).
3. When the oil is ready, add the beef and stir-fry to your liking.
4. When the beef is cooked, reserve it. Then add the red onion and stir-fry.
5. When the onion start to get translucent, add the tomatoes and stir-fry.
6. Before the tomatoes get to soft, add the pisco (or red wine vinegar) and the soy sauce and stir, to get all the juices off the wok. Reduce to medium eat and add back the beef.
7. When the sauce is a getting thick, add the cilantro and the green onion, stir a little bit more and serve with the rice and the french fries.

If you are familiar with any asian stir-fry, then this is about the same process. The key is to keep the vegetable firm. For the presentation, use a glass to shape the rice in a dome like form. I like to serve the beef over the French fries, as they’ll just absorb some of the sauce… yummy !!!

Enjoy (or not) and stay tuned !