Vaca Frita (Cuban Shredded Beef)

Name: Vaca Frita (Cuban Shredded Beef)
Prep time: 8 h
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Total time: 10 h 30 min
Yield: 4 serving(s)
Ingredients: 2 lbs roast (I use a sirloin roast for less fat, but you can use chuck roast); 3 bay leaves; 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice; 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 2 cloves garlic, finely minced; 4 tablespoons olive oil; 1/2 large onion, thinly sliced; fresh parsley, as desired

Submitted by EdsGirlAngie

"Absolutely wonderful! Simmered beef marinated overnight in lime, lemon and garlic, then sauteed with onion until slightly crispy (then I like to blast it with more fresh-squeezed lime juice!). The technique is almost like making homemade roast beef hash (without the potato). Prep time includes marinating beef overnight. Cook time is combination of two days (simmering of beef, then sauteeing)."

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photo by Marie Nixon

Ready In:: 10hrs 30mins
Ingredients:: 8
Serves:: 4

ingredients

2 lbs roast (I use a sirloin roast for less fat, but you can use chuck roast)
3 bay leaves
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
4 tablespoons olive oil
¹⁄₂ large onion, thinly sliced
fresh parsley, as desired

directions

Simmer roast with bay leaves in a Dutch oven on the stove until tender, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
Cool at room temperature; reserve cooking water for another use if you wish.
When beef is cool, shred and place in a glass container.
Combine lime juice, lemon juice and garlic; mix into meat.
Season with salt and pepper and marinate overnight.
(The sirloin roast is excellent at"soaking up" the juices!) Next day, remove meat from marinade, squeezing excess liquid (if you need to; I normally don't) and fry in a large skillet in olive oil until slightly brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Add thin onion slices and parsley and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes, until onion is tender and meat is well-browned.
Squeeze more lime juice on meat and serve over rice.

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Reviews

I'm sorry, but this recipe started out on the wrong foot the moment it suggests using a sirloin roast or chuck roast. I've been eating vaca frita my entire life, and it is made with flank or skirt steak ("falda" in Spanish). And letting it sit in lime for so long overpowers the taste of the beef, as mentioned by other reviewers. I guess this may work as a "mock" vaca frita!

Chicocooks
I've never seen this done without frying ghee or a combination of ghee and olive oil.

wildheart
Made this last weekend. I found the sirloin roast to be very tough even after sitting in the lemon/lime juice. I found the next day that the lemon/lime flavor sort of over powered and I was not too happy about it. I added a splash of white wine and that seemed to round things out a bit. I have since tried another recipe from a cuban site and I found it much more appealing. This was good and we had a nice meal from it but the lemon/lime flavor was just too heavy for us and the sirloin just wasn't the way to go with this. Sorry, but thanks anyway.

Ilysse
My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe. I modified it a bit. Instead of cooking in water, I cooked in a crock pot and after I shredded, followed the rest of the recipe. Thanks!

H C.
I have been wanting to make Vaca Frita for quite awhile now. aI choose this recipe because the directions seemed straightforward. I did borrow instructions from another Vaca Frita recipe that told me to simmer the roast with 1/2 c. red wine, bay leaves and 1/2 t. peppercorns, and enough water to come up to the meat but not to cover the meat. From there on, I followed this recipe. It didn't seem like the meat was tender after the 1 1/2 hrs. but I trusted the recipe and left it to cool to room temperature. Once it was cooled down, the meat shredded beautifully. My husband, who rarely tries anything new, had high praises for this meat dish and I, of course, really liked it, also.

Marie Nixon