Recipe

Vaca frita

Name: Vaca frita
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 500 g beef (flank); Water, to cook the meat; 4 garlic cloves, sliced; 1 lemon or sour orange; 1 ají (any type), in brunoise; ½ onion, in brunoise; Salt and pepper to taste; 4 tablespoons lard or oil

Cuban vaca frita: shredded beef flank, marinated in lemon or sour orange and sautéed in a pan with garlic, onion and ají.

CiberCubaMarch 13, 2007

CiberCuba

Preparation20 min
Cooking40 min
Total time1 h
Servings4 servings
DifficultyEasy

Vaca frita is a typical dish of Cuban cuisine, a close cousin of ropa vieja but with fewer ingredients and faster to make. Both are recipes for making use of beef flank.

They say the tradition comes from the Cuban countryside: when a cow or pig was slaughtered, all the meat had to be cooked immediately, because there were no refrigeration methods. The offal was cooked and as much meat as possible was roasted or fried. The flank, being somewhat tough, was set aside for another time, and perhaps that is where this custom comes from.

Method

Place the beef flank in a pressure cooker with water and salt, and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes, until tender.
Remove the meat from the broth and save the broth for other preparations.
Let the meat cool, shred it and remove any excess fat.
CiberCuba
Season to your taste, add the lemon or sour orange juice and set aside.
In a frying pan, heat the lard or oil and sauté the sliced garlic.
When the garlic is ready, add the ají and onion cut in brunoise and the shredded meat.
Sauté over medium heat, without increasing it, because otherwise the meat will dry out too much. If you wish, add a little of the reserved broth to make it juicier, although vaca frita should remain rather dry.