Peruvian Beef Stir-Fry is Fusion Cooking at its Best

Peruvian Beef Stir-Fry is Fusion¹ Cooking at its Best

Fusion cooking combines elements of food traditions from two or more cultures.

Food expert Christopher Kimball recently wrote about fusion cooking that combines tastes from Peru and China.

One of the most common foods, or dishes, in Peruvian-Chinese cooking is called lomo saltado. Kimball describes the meat dish as a quick, easy beef stir-fry. A stir-fry is a dish made of foods that are fried quickly over high heat while being stirred, or mixed. Stir-frying is a common way of cooking in Chinese food culture.

Lomo saltado, Kimball notes, represents Peru's cultural influences -- from Incan farmers to Chinese immigrants. Ancient settlers in the Andes Mountains grew peppers and potatoes. Spanish colonizers introduced beef and sheep. Hundreds of years later, a large group of Chinese workers came, bringing ingredients such as soy sauce and ginger². They also brought with them the cooking method of stir-frying.

Peruvian-Chinese cuisine³ became known as chifa. Lomo saltado is easy to find at chifa eateries.

Kimball included a recipe for lomo saltado in his new book Milk Street Tuesday Nights. The cookbook only includes meals that take 45 minutes or less to prepare.

The main focus of Kimball's recipe is the meat. It is cut into long pieces called strips. The raw beef is marinated in soy sauce and then fried over high heat. To marinate means to put meat in a sauce, called a marinade, for a period of time. The sauce softens⁵ the meat and adds flavor. Kimball develops flavor by mixing ground cumin into the soy sauce marinade.

Kimball says he prefers to use a cut of meat called sirloin tips. The cut is known to have a meaty flavor and lower cost. Kimball also stir-fries onions, tomatoes and peppers with the beef.

Lomo saltado recipe

Here is how to make Lomo Saltado. This recipe makes enough food for four people:

Put about .7 kilograms of steak in a medium-sized bowl. Add in 7 mL of cumin and 5 mL each of salt and pepper. Then add 30 mL of soy sauce. Mix the spices and sauce together and add onto the meat. Let the meat marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes. Then, dry the meat and move it to a plate.

In a large skillet over high heat, heat 15 mL of cooking oil until it begins to smoke. Add half of the meat and cook, turning once, until the pieces are browned on both sides. Move the meat onto a plate. Repeat the process with another 15 mL of oil and the rest of the meat. Remove the meat again and put it on a plate.

In the same skillet over medium-high, heat additional oil. Add one chopped red onion. Stir and cook the onion for about two minutes until the pieces start to soften⁴. Stir in 60 mL of red wine vinegar and 45 mL of soy sauce. Cook for one minute until the sauce starts to thicken. Then, add 2 pieces of fresh garlic and a sliced jalapeno pepper, with its seeds removed. Cook until you start to smell the garlic, about 30 seconds.

Add 300 mL of cherry tomatoes that have been cut in half.

Next, add the cooked meat and any juices from the meat to the skillet. Cook the whole mixture until the meat is just warmed through, for about 30 seconds.

Finally, taste the mixture and add any additional salt or pepper needed.

At chifa restaurants in Peru, lomo saltado is usually served with French fries. Kimball recommends serving it over rice, which will soak up the flavorful juices.

Words in This Story

fry - v. to cook (food) in fat or oil

ingredient - n. one of the things that are used to make a food, product, etc.

soy sauce - n. a brown sauce that is made from soybeans and used especially in Chinese and Japanese cooking

recipe - n. a set of instructions for making food

focus - n. a subject that is being discussed or studied

flavor - n. the quality of something that you can taste

1 fusion   

n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。

2 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

3 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。

4 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

5 softens   

（使）变软( soften的第三人称单数 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• Iron softens with heat. 铁受热就软化。
• Moonlight softens our faults; all shabbiness dissolves into shadow. 月光淡化了我们的各种缺点，所有的卑微都化解为依稀朦胧的阴影。 来自名作英译部分