Vaca Frita (Shredded Beef)

Name: Vaca Frita (Shredded Beef)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 30 min
Yield: 8 serving(s)
Ingredients: 1 bay leaf; 2 lbs flank steaks; 1 teaspoon salt (to taste); 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 1/2 cup sour orange juice (or 1/4 cup each lime and orange juices); 1/4 cup lime juice; 4 tablespoons olive oil; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 2 medium onions, thinly sliced

Submitted by Busters friend

"A wonderful Cubano recipe that can use a variety of beef cuts - flank steak is too dear for me but skirt steak & bottom round roast have responded well for me. Serve with white rice & lime wedges - the little key limes if you can get them. Found in the Miami Herald & adapted from !Sabor! A Passion for Cuban Cuisine."

Download

Ready In:: 3hrs 30mins
Ingredients:: 9
Serves:: 8

ingredients

1 bay leaf
2 lbs flank steaks
1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
¹⁄₂ teaspoon pepper
¹⁄₂ cup sour orange juice (or 1/4 cup each lime and orange juices)
¹⁄₄ cup lime juice
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium onions, thinly sliced

directions

Bring 2 quarts salted water to a boil in a large stock pot. Add the bay leaf and meat, reduce heat, cover and simmer 2 hours.
Drain the meat and let it cool to room temperature on a plate lined with paper towels. Use your hands to shred it along the grain into strips.
Season the meat with salt and pepper and place it in a shallow, nonreactive dish. Pour on the citrus juices and let it marinate at least 30 minutes. Drain the meat and set it aside.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and heat until it is almost smoking. Add half the meat and half the garlic; sauté, stirring often, 7 to 10 minutes. Add half the onions and sauté about 5 minutes, until the edges of the beef become crispy.
Transfer the mixture to a large plate. Repeat sautéing with the remaining ingredients. Serve with rice and lime wedges.

Questions & Replies

Got a question? Share it with the community!

Reviews

Have any thoughts about this recipe? Share it with the community!

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Busters friend

Pleasure Island, 73

First about Buster: Buster moved onto whatever comes next on February 26, 2008. He was just shy of five years old. I miss him terribly. He came into our lives when he ran out in front of my car late one night as I was driving home. A just under 4 pound ball of kitten fluff, complete with an ostrich boa tail that stayed straight up as he assessed his new domain. He became a 19 pound longhaired beast who guarded our house (he followed any new guests or servicepeople the entire time they are on the property) & even killed copperheads (among other things with his hunting buddy, Fergus the short-tailed)! Friends never saw his formidible side as he smiled at them & uttered the most incongruent kitten-like mews as he threaded legs! He liked to ride in the car & came to the beach. There are Buster-approved recipes in my offerings - however, HE decided which he wanted to consider - Buster demonstrated he liked pumpkin anything - ALOT -LOL!!! Copperhead count 2006 - Buster 2 (10 inchers w/yellow tails) 2007 - Buster & Roxie 1 (a 24 incher!) Buster woken from beauty sleep - http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0335.JPG Big whiskers - http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0333.JPG For those of you who gave kind condolences - thank you so very much. http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=250301 I love to cook & incorporate techniques from Southern/Mid Atlantic roots (grits, eastern NC BBQ shoulders, Brunswick stew, steamed crabs & shrimp & shellfish, hushpuppies, cornbread, greens, shad roe, scrapple) with Pacific Rim foods & techniques aquired while living in Pacific Northwest, fish & game recipes learned while living in Rocky Mountain region & foods/techniques learned travelling to the Big Island & up into BC & Alberta & into the Caribbean. The Middle Eastern/African likes I have are remnants of my parents who lived for many years in North Africa & Mediterranean before I was thought of. Makes for wide open cooking! Since moving back east we try to go annually in the deep winter to Montreal (Old Montreal auberges & La Reine) & Quebec City (Winter Carnival & Chateau Frontenac)- for unctuous foie gras & real cheeses, French & Canadian meals prepared & served exquisitely, fantastic music & wonderful people - with the cold helping burn off some of the calories! I love putting in our aluminum jonboat & heading across the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to the barrier islands for foraging & exploring! Bodysurfing is a lifelong sport for me - one that a person's body never seems to forget how to do, once the knack is learned (thank goodness!) I especially miss cool summers & foggy/drizzly days & fall mushroom foraging/anytime of year hot springing in WA, OR, MT, ID, BC & Alberta.

View Full Profile