Tag: beef
Ropa Veija
Ropa Veija
Ropa Veija is a classic Cuban dish of shredded beef made out of either flank steak or skirt steak. If skirt and flank are out of your price range due to the popularity they have grown over the years, you can you chuck. This recipe is pretty straight forward. Season the meat. Sear the meat. Set aside. Sautee the vegetables. Add the sauce, spices, an meat. Slow cook in the oven. This works really well in a crock pot as well. I was originally going to cook it this way; but decided “Hell. I’m gonna save me some dishes and do it all in one pot.” I literally said that out loud to myself. If you are going to do it in a slow cooker, cook on high for 4-6 hours. Ropa Veija goes great with rice, beans, and plantains. This meat is also great in tacos and burritos.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
The Meat
- 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 lbs skirt steak, flank steak, or chuck
- salt, pepper, cumin to taste
Ropa Veija
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 1 head of garlic cloves minced
- 2 bell peppers, 1 red, 1 green sliced into strips
- 2 roma tomatoes sliced into strips
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
The Meat
- In a large sautée pan or dutch oven, heat up 2 tbsp of cooking oil on medium high heat. Season the skirt/flank/chuck with salt, pepper, and cumin. Cut into 4″ chunks. Sear in the pan for 3-4 minutes on each side.
- Once seared, remove the meat from the pan and set aside.
Ropa Veija
- Prep your ingredients.
- Add the rest of the cooking oil to the same pan the meat was seared in. Sautee the bell peppers, onion, garlic, tomatoes for 4-5 minutes.
- Add the tomato sauce, bay leaf, thyme, smoked paprika, cumin beef stock parsley, and cilantro. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the meat.
- Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Place the pan or dutch oven into the oven covered and cook for 4 hours. Bring back out on the stove to. Cook on high for 20 more minute until the sauce thickens. Shred the meat apart with 2 forks.
- Serve the ropa veija with rice and tostones.
Beef Bulgogi
Beef Bulgogi
Beef bulgogi is the most recognized Korean dish to the Westerner’s eyes and is considered one of the most popular in Korea. When you eat a a Korean BBQ restaurant and order Bulgogi, it is either being brought to you all ready prepared or you can grill it yourself at a table side grill. Bulgogi is traditionally beef, usually thinly sliced ribeye. You can also use NY strip or top sirloin as well. If you can’t find razor thin sliced beef, you can definitely slice it yourself. If using ny strip or top sirloin, make sure the fat cap is removed from the top of the meat. Partially freeze the meat to make slicing a little easier. The meat should be consistently sliced, less that an 1/8th”. When cooking the meat, use either a sauté pan, grill pan, or a griddle. Make sure that the pan is really hot. This is meant to cook very fast, hence why the meat is sliced thin. Do not overcrowd the pan when cooking. It will make the meat braise in it’s own juices instead of browning it. Using 1.5lbs of meat, I cooked this in 3 batches on a griddle.What really stands out to me in flavor is the use of Asian pear. It adds a nice sweetness to the meat, as well as being a natural tenderizer. If you can’t find asian pears, you can substitute an apple. I’ve seen recipes that use pineapple juice or mashed kiwi. Thai all have the same enzyme that is used in tenderizing meatBulgogi is traditionally served with rice. It is also great in a lettuce wrap with a little bit of soybean paste. I think I’m going to enjoy a wrap made with the devil’s lettuce right about now.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs ribeye, ny strip, or top sirloin sliced 1/8″ or thinner
- 1/4 cup shallots diced
- 1/4 cup carrots julienne
- 2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
Bulgogi Marinade
- 5 tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 tbsp suger
- 2 tbsp rice wine
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tsp ginger grated
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 asian pear grated
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Garnish
- green onions finely diced
- sesame seeds
Instructions
- Mix all marinade ingredients together.
- For this recipe, I am using sliced NY strip that I purchased from my local Asian market. You can use ribeye or top sirloin as well.
- Add the meat to the marinade. Marinate for 6-8 hours, preferably overnight.
- Before you are about to cook the meat, add the julienne carrots and diced shallots.
- Preheat a sautée pan, stove top grill, or griddle over high heating add the cooking oil. Start adding the meat to the pan. Make sure to not overcrowd the pan. You don’t want the meat to braise in it’s juices. Cook for no more than a minute on one side.
- Flip meat to the other side and cook for another minute.
- Garnish with green onion and more sesame seeds.
- Beef Bulgogi is also is great in lettuce wraps!
