Lomo Saltado Recipe
Ingredients
2 pounds beef (I used tri tip but you can also use filet mignon, sirloin, skirt steak, or flank steak) cut into ½ inch cubes
10 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
12 cloves garlic, minced or grated
2-3 tablespoon oyster sauce
2-3 tablespoon Elderberry Pineapple Fire Cider
1-2 tablespoon Aji Amarillo paste (I ran out and used Secret Aardvark habanero hot sauce)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 medium red onions, sliced into ½ inch pieces or wedges
5-6 Roma tomatoes, seeded and sliced into ½ inch wedges
1 bunch green onions sliced into 2 inch pieces
Oil, for cooking (I use avocado oil for high heat dishes)
Cooked French fries + rice, for serving
Instructions
MARINATE: Add 2 tablespoons soy sauce and half the garlic, to the cubed beef and marinate for 5-7 minutes or longer if you have time. If you’re using a particularly tough cut of meat, consider adding 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda along with the soy sauce and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.
SAUCE: In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the remaining 8 tablespoons soy sauce, oyster sauce, Elderberry Pineapple Fire Cider, Aji Amarillo paste, and cornstarch. Whisk to combine and set aside.
STIR FRY: Heat your pan. You’ll want to get it as hot as possible to ensure a good sear (almost char). I have a gas range and remove the burner plate and put my wok directly in the flames (please be careful and keep a fire extinguisher close by if you’re working with direct flames/high heat). Add a few tablespoons of oil to a hot wok or cast iron pan until it shimmers and starts to smoke. Brown the beef for roughly 1-2 minutes flipping as needed to cook evenly. Do this in smaller batches because you want the beef to sear, not steam! Remove to a clean bowl. Add more oil if the pan is dry, then add the onions, cook for 1-2 minutes and remove. Add another tablespoon of oil if the pan is dry and add the tomatoes. Get a good sear on them and promptly remove from the pan. Add your sauce mixture (soy sauce, oyster sauce, vinegar, chili paste, garlic and cornstarch), bring to a simmer (this will go quick over high heat), then add the beef back into the pan and reduce heat to medium. Mix to coat then add onions, tomatoes and green onions. Serve with rice and with French fries. Enjoy!
Food is definitely my love language. I grew up in San Francisco and was raised by a professional chef. Being a picky eater was not allowed. There wasn’t a food I didn’t love (other than candied sweet potatoes with marshmallows- it’s just wrong on so many levels and tastes like lies and disappointment).
I started cooking at age 11. My very first meal that I made completely on my own was a peanut ginger chicken dish with steamed rice. I followed the recipe and it turned out amazing! I was hooked on cooking.
One of my favorite hobbies growing up and as an adult was trying new dishes at restaurants and then trying to recreate them at home. I also spent nearly a decade in the restaurant industry which helped hone my skills even more. Hosting dinner parties and cooking delicious food for my friends and family was my favorite way to pass the time.
Then life got busy, I had kids, and started my own business and time for dining out and cooking elaborate meals evaporated into the ethers.
Recently I’ve been on a Peruvian kick and have had the Lomo Saltado from a local Peruvian restaurant, Ayawaska, pretty much every weekend for the past 2 months. When my partner mentioned I had been going over our food budget with eating out I figured it was time to start tinkering in the kitchen to sleuth out how to make it myself.
I had forgotten how much I enjoy cooking and creating. As a busy parent it’s easy to get stuck in a rut with food that’s quick to throw together that you know your kids will eat with minimal complaints. Throw in 2 years of a pandemic and the path of least resistance when it comes to cooking is the most picked option. But it’s definitely blah in terms of wow-factor meals. I rarely have the energy or motivation to make a big elaborate meal especially when I have to fight with my kids to get them to eat it.
With our budget in mind I had two options: get the needed push and motivation to figure out how to make this dish myself or give it up for the foreseeable future. If any of you have ADHD, you know how it goes with food fixations, so obviously giving it up was not an option.
So I got to work scouring the web and reading through dozens of Lomo Saltado recipes. Some call for cilantro instead of green onion (cilantro tastes like soap to me so that was out). Again I had a very specific recipe in mind from our local restaurant so I fine tuned and pieced together various recipes until I came up with this one. Making this dish reminded me of my love for researching and recreating favorite dishes from local restaurants. My 6 year old and 8 year old (surprisingly) loved it too. I was so happy that I could share this meal and my passion for food with them and have them be enthusiastic participants in this experience.
I’m definitely going to set a goal of making a new dish at least once a month from now on. It feels good to get out of my culinary rut and share my love of food with my kids.
I hope this dish becomes one of your favorites too. I’d love to hear from you. Enjoy!