A traditional Peruvian beef-potato stew served over rice, modified to accommodate Paleo-ish needs
Equipment
- wok
- large pot
- small pot
- medium pot / rice cooker
- deep frying pan / deep fryer
- tongs
- ladle
- measuring spoons/cups
- knife
- cutting board
- bowls (for ingredients)
- paper towels
Ingredients
~4 servings
| Quantity | Item | Preparation |
|---|---|---|
| 2 cups | beef broth | reduced to half volume |
| 1 tbsp | salt | |
| 1 cup dry | long-grain white rice | cooked |
| 2 cups | avocado oil | for deep frying potatoes; adjust quantity as necessary for equipment |
| 1.5 lbs | russet potatoes | scrubbed; cut into 1/2-inch rounds; cut each round into strips |
| 2 lbs | beef tenderloin | cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips; can substitute chateaubriand or London broil |
| 1 large | red onion | peel; cut through stem into 8 wedges; separate layers |
| 3 large | red tomatoes | cut into bite-sized wedges |
| 2 large | jalapeño peppers | minced; optionally, remove seeds for less spiciness |
| 0.5 bunch | cilantro | chopped |
| 1/3 cups | tamari | |
| 2.5 tbsp | white wine vinegar | |
| 2.5 tbsp | coconut oil |
Preparation
The following sections can be parallelized. Start with whichever first, depending on how much of your potatoes can be deep fried at the same time and whether you have a rice cooker.
Rice
- Optional: rinse rice, if you care about removing arsenic content.
- Put dry rice in a bowl.
- Fill with water.
- Agitate the rice in the bowl.
- Drain milky colored water.
- Repeat steps b, c, and d until water is clear or about 5 times maximum.
- If you have a rice cooker, use it. Done. (No need to salt the rice.)
- If you don’t have a rice cooker:
- Put about 2 cups of water into a pot with your rice (2-to-1 ratio of water to rice).
- Heat on highest setting, uncovered, until it boils.
- As soon as it boils (you have to pay close attention), cover the pot and put on lowest heat.
- Allow to simmer until water has been completely absorbed / evaporated (~20-30 minutes).
Potatoes
- Put avocado oil in deep pan or deep fryer. Use enough that at least one layer of potato strips will be completely submerged.
- Heat to ~375 F; meanwhile prepare potatoes as specified above.
- When heated, place potatoes in pan/fryer. Let fry for about ~10 minutes.
- When done, place now-fried potato strips in a bowl lined with paper towels.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 until all your potatoes are fried.
- Set potatoes aside.
Stew
- Prepare all veggies (onions, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, cilantro) as specified above and separate into bowls for easy dumping.
- Reduce the beef broth in a small pot to about half its volume. Set it aside when done. (Move on to further steps while it’s reducing.)
- Heat a wok on medium-to-high with the coconut oil and beef. Allow the beef to brown and mostly cook through (~10-15 minutes).
- Remove the individual beef strips with tongs, and place them in a large pot. (Leave behind the coconut oil and beef juices.)
- Put the onions in the wok and let simmer until they soften (~5 minutes).
- Add the jalapeño peppers, cilantro, salt, tamari, white wine vinegar, and reduced beef broth to the wok. Stir to homogenize the mixture, and let simmer on medium heat for ~10-15 minutes.
- When sufficiently reduced, pour the entire contents of the wok into the large pot with the beef strips, homogenize the mixture, and place, uncovered, on lowest heat. (Leaving it uncovered allows the stew to not be so liquidy.)
- About 5 minutes before serving time, add in the tomatoes and homogenize the mixture.
- At serving time, while folks are shoveling rice into their bowls, put the fried potato strips into the large pot and homogenize the mixture.
- Serve with a ladle over the rice.
