Lomo Saltado is a mouthwatering and traditional Peruvian dish that perfectly blends the flavors of Chinese and Peruvian cuisine. This exquisite beef stir fry combines tender strips of marinated beef, sautéed onions and tomatoes, and a touch of soy sauce for an explosion of flavors that will tantalize your tastebuds. It evolved from Chinese immigrants arriving in Peru in the 19th century, combining their cuisine with local ingredients resulting in a fusion of cultural amalgamation. Thanks to its unique blend of flavors and the increasing popularity of Peruvian cuisine worldwide, Lomo Saltado has gained recognition beyond Peru's borders making chefs around the globe experiment with different variations and twists. Today's recipe, Lomo Saltado, is my personal take on the dish combining several South American versions to create the perfect weeknight family dinner...Let's Get Cooking!
The first step we want to accomplish for this delicious fusion stir fry is to prepare and marinate the beef while we continue on with the rest of the prep work and cooking. Slice a nice sirloin steak into thin pieces, about 1/8 to 1/16th-inch thickness. Keeping them thin allows us to speed up the marinade time and overall cook time so spend a few minutes and enjoy some basic kitchen knifework. One your steak has been sliced down, toss it in a bowl or ziplock bag with the soy sauce, white vinegar, a tablespoon of olive oil, cumin, and a dash or two of salt/pepper. Mix everything around and set aside on your counter while we move on the next steps. The beef needs to marinate somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour or so. That's plenty of time for those flavors to penetrate the thin slices!
Next, we will go ahead and prep the remaining ingredients since this is a stir fry recipe after all, so once we start cooking it will go fast and everything needs to be ready! Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and finely dice the chipotle peppers. You can use regular tomatoes and cut them into wedges, but I personally like the smaller cherry or grape tomatoes in a stir fry myself so I went with them in my interpretation of this dish. Traditionally, this recipe calls for aji amarillo peppers, but they aren't exactly very common outside of South America, so the chipotle peppers bring a nice subtle bit of heat without making this recipe too spicy. Slice the bell peppers into long strips and cut the onion similarly into slices. Any color bell pepper will do here, but yellow and orange bring a nice, subtle sweetness to offset the spicy chipotles, but feel free to use what you have on hand. We want lots of color in this dish as it brings it alive on the plate making our tastebuds salivate in anticipation!
The final items to prep, which are more for plating actually, are the potatoes. I went with thin-cut, fast food style french fries, but you can use larger steak fries or potato wedges as you wish. Additionally, you can opt to make rice instead or do both depending on what sort of carb coma you are seeking after a hefty plate of this Lomo Saltado! Whichever you choose, either pan fry, bake, air fry, or deep fry your fries and/or prepare your rice like any other day. The stir fry itself cooks rather quickly so make sure your fries/rice is ready to go when you start cooking so everything can be plated and enjoyed hot and fresh as intended! Once done, just keep them warm in the oven or your rice cooker. I made a batch of frozen fries in my air fryer as I did my veggie prep from the previous step.
Alright, it's finally time for some stir fry action, assuming the beef has had at least 30 minutes to marinate! Heat the remaining olive oil in a large pan/wok and drain the excess marinade from the beef sirloin. When the pan is smoking hot, add the beef and quickly sauté for 2 to 3 minutes to sear the outside and retain those juices. It will rejoin the hot pan later so try to only cook the beef to a Rare/Medium-Rare level before transferring to a bowl and setting aside.
Once the beef is removed and any remaining juices dumped, return the pan/wok to the burner and add the sliced bell peppers. Let them sauté for 2 to 3 minutes before adding the onion an additional 1 or 2 minutes. The idea here is to slightly soften these veggies but leave a nice crisp bite in our final dish. Finish this step up by adding the diced chipotle peppers and the ginger and garlic paste, which only require a minute or so to become fragrant.
When you start smelling those wonderful aromatics, pour in the beef stock and deglaze the bottom of the pan/wok. Really get in there and use a flat spatula or bamboo utensil to scrap up any bits of the bottom. Those tasty bits must not be left behind!
Next, add in the sliced cherry tomatoes and season everything with the oregano.
Finally, return the seared sirloin slices to the pan/wok and stir everything together for one final minute or so to reheat the beef and let it finish cooking to your desired doneness level. I told you the stir fry itself went pretty damn quick now didn't I?
Now that the dish is ready, layer some potatoes on a plate and top with the sirloin stir fry. If you made rice, it can be served separately or on the side somewhere. Garnish with a bit of roughly chopped cilantro to complete the meal and dig in while it's hot and delicious because this Lomo Saltado is about to blow your mind! All those tasty juices and drippings will slowly make their way onto the potatoes slightly softening and flavoring them as you eat. Overall, this dish isn't overly spicy, but the more you eat it starts to creep up and tingle your tastebuds with delight as you chow down knowing you just made a damn good version of a South American/Peruvian-Chinese favorite in your own home! If you like this recipe be sure to share it with your friends and family so they can enjoy a wonderful meal with countless options to modify whether it be the peppers, potatoes, or beef itself. Take a brag picture, post it online, and be sure to tag @grubbongrub so everyone can see your wonderful dinner creation....Just Keep Cooking!
LOMO SALTADO
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