Lomo Saltado
Lomo saltado is a beef stir-fry from the chifa kitchens of Peru, where Cantonese cooking technique met Peruvian ingredients from the late nineteenth century onward. Strips of sirloin are seared in a scorching pan, then joined by red onion, ají amarillo, tomato, soy sauce and vinegar, and the whole thing is finished with fried potatoes folded in at the last second. Serving it over rice puts two starches on one plate, which is exactly the point: the potato is Andean, the rice and the wok are Chinese, and the soy-and-vinegar pan sauce belongs to neither on its own. Everything depends on pan temperature, so all cutting and measuring is done before the burner is lit.
Ingredients
- 600 gbeef sirloin
- 500 gpotatoes
- 2 piecesred onions
- 3 piecesplum tomatoes
- 1 pieceají amarillo
- 3 clovesgarlic
- 3 tbspsoy sauce
- 2 tbspred wine vinegar
- 3 tbspvegetable oil
- 3 tbspchopped coriander
- 1 tspfine sea salt
- ½ tspground black pepper
- 300 gwhite rice
Method
- Cut the sirloin across the grain into strips about 1.5 cm thick and 6 cm long, then dry them thoroughly on paper towel and season with the salt and pepper. Surface moisture is what turns the meat grey and stewed instead of seared, and no amount of heat compensates for it.
- Cut the potatoes into 1 cm batons and fry them twice: 5 minutes at 150 °C until soft but pale, then a second pass of 3 minutes at 190 °C until they are deep gold and rigid. Drain on a rack, never on a covered plate, or the steam softens them again.
- Cut the red onions through the root into 1.5 cm wedges and separate the petals, cut the tomatoes into wedges and scrape out the seeds and watery centre, and slice the ají amarillo into thin strips after removing its ribs. Cook the rice now, and have everything within arm's reach of the stove.
- Heat a wok or a wide steel pan over the highest heat until a drop of water vanishes on contact and the oil shimmers. Sear the beef in two batches with a tablespoon of oil each, leaving it untouched for the first 30 seconds and then tossing for another 30 to 60, until browned outside and still pink inside. Remove to a plate.
- Add the last of the oil, then the onion petals and the ají amarillo, and toss for 60 to 90 seconds. The onion should soften at the edges and keep a crisp core: at this stage it is still meant to snap when bitten.
- Return the beef, add the crushed garlic for 20 seconds, then pour the soy sauce and vinegar down the hot side of the pan so they hiss and reduce on contact rather than pooling. Add the tomato wedges and toss 30 to 45 seconds, just until they warm through and release a little juice without collapsing.
- Take the pan off the heat, fold in the fried potatoes and the coriander with two or three turns only, and serve at once alongside the rice. The potatoes are meant to carry the pan sauce for the minute it takes to get to the table, not to sit in it.
FAQ
The meat went into the pan wet, or too much of it went in at once, or the pan was not properly preheated. Dry the strips well, cook them in batches that cover no more than two thirds of the pan floor, and wait until the surface is hot enough that oil shimmers and moves on its own.
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