Vaca Frita
Why I Love This Recipe
Ingredients You'll Need
2 LB flank steak
2 bay leaves
2 carrots, peeled, whole
1 large onion, peeled, whole
4 cloves of garlic, peeled, whole
2 or 3 sprints of parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 large onions, cut in half and each half thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs. fresh parsley, minced
Lime wedges (2 wedges per serving)
Directions
Place beef, bay leaf, carrots, whole onion, whole garlic cloves and the sprints of parsley in a large saucepan.
Cover with water; add a teaspoon salt and cook over low heat, covered, until the meat is tender, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Remove meat from the stock and allow to cool at room temperature.
Discard the vegetables; reserve the stock for soup or any other use.
When the meat is cool, cut into 2 inch chunks, shred with your fingers.
Place the shredded meat in a large glass bowl. Add the citrus juices,
garlic, salt and pepper, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the meat from the marinade, squeeze out the excess liquid then spread it over several layers of kitchen paper towels to get the remaining liquids out.
Place the oil in a large skillet and bring to high temperature. Add the shredded beef a little bit at a time to maintain the oil hot.
Cook until
thbeef starts to brown and to crisp.
Add the sliced onions and minced garlic.
Cook stirring, for another 5 minutes. Continue cooking until the beef is nicely crisp, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Sprinkle with additional parsley (optional) and place wedges of lime on the serving dish to garnish and for each person to sprinkle over their meal.
This is traditionally served with white rice and maduros.