Lomo Saltado
Beef, onion and tomato seared hard in a wok, splashed with vinegar and soy, with the chips folded straight back in.
Why it works
The wok has to be properly hot and the beef dry and in one layer, or it steams grey instead of browning. Microwaving the potatoes while you slice everything means they need two minutes in hot oil to crisp rather than a full deep-fry. Peru serves this with chips and rice both, so the rice goes on the hob first and steams untouched while the wok does its work.
Method
- Boil the kettle. The rice goes on before the wok gets hot: salt, boiling water, a small pan, back to the boil, then a lid and 10 minutes at the lowest heat. Leave it covered off the heat until you serve.
- Put the potatoes in a bowl with a splash of water, cover, and microwave on full for 6 minutes while you slice everything else. Drain and pat dry — dry chips crisp, wet ones spit.
- Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a wok until it shimmers. Fry the potatoes 3 minutes, turning twice, until golden and crisp on two sides. Tip them back into the bowl.
- Add the last tablespoon of oil and the beef, spread flat, in two goes if the wok looks crowded. Leave 60 seconds undisturbed for a crust, then toss a minute more, until the strips are browned outside and firm to the touch, still blushing pink at the centre. Push it up the side of the wok.
- Throw the onion, red pepper, chilli and garlic into the base. Two minutes on high — smoky at the edges, still snapping in the middle.
- Add the tomatoes, soy, vinegar and pepper. Toss for 1 minute, until the tomatoes slump and the liquid turns glossy and clings to the beef rather than pooling.
- Fold the potatoes back in with the coriander. Fork the rice loose, spoon it onto four warm plates and serve the saltado over it, straight from the wok.
For the toddler
Take a few strips of beef out at the end of step 4 and a little potato at step 3, before the chilli joins the pan at step 5 and the soy at step 6. Warm them through with a skinned tomato wedge in a small pan. Chop the beef finely across the grain and cut the chips into short soft pieces rather than long batons. Rice underneath, about a quarter of an adult bowl.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
Skirt or bavette, sliced across the grain. Thick portobello strips make a good meat-free version.
Freeze the beef 15 minutes first and it slices cleanly in half the time.
Salsa criolla — red onion sliced paper-thin, left ten minutes in lime juice with salt and a pinch of chilli. It cuts straight through the fried potatoes.
Two days chilled. The chips soften, so reheat hard in the wok, never the microwave.