Name: Lomo Saltado
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Peruvian
Ingredients: 1.5 lbs beef sirloin, sliced thin against the grain; 2 large red onions, cut into thick wedges; 3 Roma tomatoes, cut into wedges; 2 ají amarillo peppers (or yellow chili), sliced; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 3 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tbsp pisco (Peruvian brandy) or red wine vinegar; 1 tbsp oyster sauce; 1 tsp cumin; Fresh cilantro, chopped; 3 cups french fries (thick-cut, freshly fried); Steamed white rice for serving; Vegetable oil with high smoke point

Beef stir-fried with tomatoes and onions in soy sauce and pisco, served with french fries and rice. The defining dish of Chifa — Peru's Chinese-Peruvian fusion.

The Cultural Story

Lomo saltado is the living proof that fusion cuisine can produce something greater than its parts. Chinese immigrants arrived in Peru in the 1850s to work on railroads and sugar plantations, bringing their woks and techniques with them. They found local ingredients — ají amarillo peppers, tomatoes, cilantro — and Peruvian cooking changed forever. Chifa (from the Chinese for "to eat rice") became a cuisine all its own: Chinese wok technique applied to Andean ingredients with soy sauce and pisco. Lomo saltado is its most famous creation. The sight of flames leaping from a wok, the sizzle of soy sauce hitting hot metal, french fries mixed directly into the stir-fry — it should not work. It absolutely does.

Ingredients

1.5 lbs beef sirloin, sliced thin against the grain
2 large red onions, cut into thick wedges
3 Roma tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 ají amarillo peppers (or yellow chili), sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp pisco (Peruvian brandy) or red wine vinegar
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp cumin
Fresh cilantro, chopped
3 cups french fries (thick-cut, freshly fried)
Steamed white rice for serving
Vegetable oil with high smoke point

Instructions

1Season beef with cumin and a pinch of salt. Get your wok or cast-iron skillet ripping hot — the highest heat your stove can produce.
2Sear beef in batches. Do not crowd the pan. You want char, not steam. 90 seconds maximum per batch. Remove and set aside.
3In the same scorching pan, add garlic and onion wedges. Keep the heat high. Let them char slightly on the edges — this is correct.
4Add ají amarillo and tomatoes. Toss for 1 minute.
5Return beef to the pan. Add soy sauce, pisco, and oyster sauce. The liquid will immediately sizzle and reduce — 30 seconds maximum.
6Kill the heat. Add fresh french fries directly into the stir-fry and toss. Add cilantro. Serve immediately over rice — the fries inside the stir-fry and rice on the side. Every grain, every fry, soaked in that soy-pisco sauce.

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