Shall we eat Peruvian tonight?

You know what they say: It's all fun and (board) games until you have to eat! Fortunately, your friendly neighborhood Pampered Boardgamer was ambitious enough to throw a dinner party for 20 of his good friends not too long ago.

My father is an excellent chef, and I grew up trying many different foods from his native country of Peru. Vegetarians need not inquire further, but one of my favorite dishes growing up was Lomo Saltado (Spanish for Saute of Beef Tenderloin). The dish, like many popular Peruvian dishes, owes a lot to Chinese immigration to Peru in the 19^th century. Imagine your favorite Chinese stir-fry prepared fresh in a Wok, but with a Latin American kick. This blog’s description of Chifa (Chinese food in Peru) reminded me why I love Peruvian food so much, and I’d be worried if it didn’t make your mouth water too.

Lomo Saltado was perfect growing up as a picky eater. Add French fries to a dish, and suddenly eating onions and tomatoes doesn’t seem that bad to a six-year old. But there's a lot to love in a Lomo Saltado: Tender stir-fried beef, vegetables, warm sticky rice, and we can't forget the soy sauce, aji amarillo, and cilantro - all of which really bring out the flavor of the dish.

The best part is how easy it is to make! Of course, the biggest limitation to an up-and-coming chef is the equipment and the ingredients. Over the winter break I purchased a large electric wok on clearance at Target. Best $20 I ever spent. You can cook a lot of food evenly in a short time span. You can use any frying pan to make your Lomo, but a wok gives you a more even distribution of heat, which is important for taste and tenderness. My friend commented I was like the star of my own cooking show – what do you think?

I picked up most of my ingredients at Fairway Market close to Lincoln Center, . I never thought supermarkets with shopping carts existed in Manhattan, but Fairway was fairly well stocked with all the ingredients I needed. It is a serious improvement over Compare and Modern, the two closest options to Fordham University’s Bronx campus. I find that Modern is generally under stocked, while Compare feels more like a large bodega than a supermarket (the looping Bachata music helps!)

Here’s the recipe I used from All-recipes.com, with some adjustments recommended by my dad.

5 pounds skirt steak, sliced ¼ inch thick

Salt, Pepper, Cumin and Paprika to season

5 large red onions, sliced into strips

8 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and sliced into strips

1 cup apple cider vinegar

Soy sauce to taste

½ cup fresh cilantro

Jasmine rice as needed

Frozen Steak Fries as needed

Once you’ve chopped your vegetables and seasoned your meat, cooking is relatively easy. On high heat, the meat is cooked until brown, and the vegetables are thrown in soon after. Because the meat is chopped thinly, it will cook very quickly; the vegetables even more, and after ten minutes (adding vinegar and soy sauce to taste) your dish is ready to serve to 20 of your closest, hungry friends!

What do you think about Lomo Saltado? Is this something you might try? Post a comment and tell me what you think.

Next time I’ll be back with another board game, and hopefully a new culinary experience to share with you. Until next time, eat, game and be merry!

P.S. You can see exactly how Lomo is prepared in this video! It's subtitled, so don't be scared by the Spanish!