Best Vaca Frita Recipes

VACA FRITA (PAN-FRIED BEEF)

Steps:

• Cut 1 onion in half and thinly slice the remaining onion. Set aside.
• Combine flank steak, halved onion, bell pepper, and bay leaf in a large saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer until meat is easily shredded with 2 forks, about 20 minutes. Transfer flank steak to a work surface and let cool, about 10 minutes. Strain beef broth and save for another use. Shred cooled meat using 2 forks and place into a separate bowl.
• Mix garlic with 1/2 teaspoon salt in another bowl. Apply paste onto the meat, along with lime juice, olive oil, and sliced onion. Let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add butter. Working in small batches, spread shredded beef in a thin layer into the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook, turning once or twice, until sizzling and crispy, about 7 minutes per batch. Transfer to a platter and serve with lime wedges.

VACA FRITA (CUBAN SHREDDED BEEF)

Steps:

• 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.

VACA FRITA

Steps:

• To a large pot, add steak, bay leaves, carrot, tomato, cumin, and oregano and cover with water. Boil the meat until it becomes tender, then remove from the liquid, and shred the meat. Into a very hot saute pan pour 1/8 cup olive oil, then add the meat, making sure to spread it out evenly. Flip it over and cook until both sides become crispy. In a separate pan, add the remaining oil and cook the onions until caramelized, then mix in the meat, cilantro, and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

VACA FRITA PAN-FRIED SHREDDED BEEF PATTIES

Steps:

• Pour the Mojito Marinade into the Ropa Vieja in the pan with the braising liquid, and mix it all up. Let the meat soak up all those good flavors for at least 4 hours.
• Grab one handful of shredded meat at a time, squeeze out as much of the marinade as you can, and shape the meat into a flattened patty about the size of your palm. Cover the bottom of a large skillet with 1/8 to 1/4 inch of oil, and get it heated up over medium. Add the patties and fry a few at a time in the oil, cooking them til crispy and richly browned on each side. Watch them carefully so they don't burn.
• Slide the fried patties onto a plate and serve 'em up with Black Beans & Rice.

VACA FRITA (SHREDDED BEEF)

Steps:

• 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.

VACA FRITA

Steps:

• Combine the beef, quartered onion, tomato, carrot, and garlic cloves with 6 cups of water in a large pot.
• Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Skim off the scum that rises to the surface.
• Reduce the heat and simmer the beef, uncovered, skimming often, until tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Strain the meat, discard broth or save for another use.
• Let the meat cool.
• Using the tip of a knife, or your fingertips, tear the meat, along the grain, into the thinnest possible shreds.
• Toss the meat with the minced garlic, salt, and lime juice in a mixing bowl.
• Let marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, or as long as overnight.
• About 5 minutes before serving, heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan until smoking.
• Add the meat and saute over medium-high heat until crisp, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Transfer the meat to plates or a platter with a slotted spoon or tongs.
• Add the sliced onion to the pan and fry until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
• Top the Vaca Frita with the fried onion and serve at once, preferably with white rice and black beans.

MIMI'S VACA FRITA

Steps:

• 1) De-fat the brisket as much as possible. 2) Cut the brisket into 3" x 3" pieces. 3) Add the brisket to the pressure cooker and add water to cover by 1/2". 4) Add the whole 1/4 onion and a couple pinches of salt. 5) Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. (You may need more time depending on your cooker) 6) Allow to sit for an additional 15 minutes before releasing pressure. 7) Using the meat mallet pound the brisket to separate the fibers then shred. 8) Add the minced garlic to the shredded meat. 9) Add mojo and salt to taste. 10) Allow the meat to marinade for 1 hour. 11) Fry the sliced onions and the beef in 1-2 Tbsp of oil on medium-high until the beef is well browned and slightly crispy.

VACA FRITA WITH A TROPICAL TUBER HASH CAKE AND CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Steps:

• For the Marinade:
• Season the meat with cumin and black pepper. Sear it in high heat until nicely browned on all sides in a hot skillet with a touch of canola oil. Reserve.
• Heat the meat broth in a saucepan over low heat.
• Heat a large soup pot on medium heat with the bacon in it. Stir. When the bacon is almost cooked, add the butter. Allow the buttter to melt. Now add the garlic, red onion, carrot, celery, and bay leaf. Turn up the heat to fairly high. Cook about 10 minutes or until the point where some caramelization has occurred. Now add the broth and the skirt steak. Bring to a boil. Skim off any impurities and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.
• Strain off the broth through a fine strainer and reserve the meat in a bowl to cool slightly. Discard the vegetables.
• Reduce the cooking broth to a fairly intense consistency and reserve.
• Place each piece of meat on a cutting board and cover it with plastic wrap. Pound the meat with a hammer to cause the meat to separate into strands. Pull the meat apart and put it in a bowl.
• Mix the marinade ingredients together well and add them to the shredded meat. Allow the marinade to season the meat overnight in the refrigerator. The next day: Discard the marinade and allow the meat to warm up a little before cooking it for the second time.
• Heat a large skillet. Add a little light cooking oil and fry the meat in it, stirring well, until crispy and brown. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve the meat in a bowl. "Dress" the shredded cooked strands of meat in a ratio of 17 ounces of meat to 5 ounces of the reduced broth. (Reserve the extra broth to spoon around the hash cake.) Reserve.
• Form the hash cake in the bottom of each serving dish. Top with the Caramelized Onions and the cooked meat. Serve with more of the broth.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Peel, dice, and blanch the sweet potato, bonito, and yucca. Toss with the butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Oven roast until all are easily pierced with a small knife. Place them in a bowl.
• Saute the bacon until it starts to crisp. Add the butter and vegetables and saute. Remove from the heat while still al dente.
• Mix together the roasted garlic, vinegar, parsley, and cilantro. Toss with the roasted potatoes and the sauteed vegetables. Reheat in the oven to order.
• Heat a large saute pan over high heat. Add the olive oil and butter. When it begins to foam, add the onions and stir well once to coat. Now let it caramelize nicely, stirring and pushing the onions around only a little bit from time to time. When the onions are nicely colored, about 8 to 10 minutes, turn the heat down to medium and cook another 10 minutes.
• Now sprinkle the sugar over them. Stir gently again and let cook for 1 minute. Now add the vinegar and stir 1 last time. Let reduce until almost no liquid remains, about 1 to 2 minutes. Season the onions and remove them to a bowl until needed. Keep warm.

VACA FRITA RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• Instructions: Place the steak in a pot or deep pan, and just enough water until the beef is covered. Add the bay leaves and peppercorns. Cover the pot, and simmer until the meat is tender, about 1 ½ hours. Remove pot from heat, and allow the contents to cool down. When the steak is still warm but not especially hot, remove it from the pot. On a plate or in a nonreactive container, shred the beef using two forks, or pull the beef apart using your fingers. Add the seasonings, sherry and lime juice, and mix them into the beef using your hands. Set aside. Add two tablespoons of olive oil to a frying pan over medium heat. Add onions, bell peppers, and sautee until the onions are tender (about 5-8 minutes). Turn the heat up to medium-high, then add the shredded beef. Cook the beef for 5-15 minutes, until it is crispy. Remove from heat and serve with lime wedges. It can be served by itself, with white rice on the side, or with moros y cristianos. Serves 4-6. Cooking Variations For some, it is common to place the cooled pot in the fridge after the meat has simmered, and let it marinate overnight before frying the following day. The leftover beef broth can also be used for soups or other recipes. Rather than shred the beef, some Cubans will simply cut the meat (with the grain) into small strips after simmering. In that case, after cutting the beef you will want to pound it with a mallet until the pieces are about half as thick as before. Not everyone cooks vaca frita with bell peppers, so it's not uncommon to leave them out. And although some cooks will add a splash of lime juice to the beef immediately after cooking, adding lime wedges means people can squeeze juice on as they see fit.

VACA FRITA

Steps:

• In 6-quart Dutch oven, mix beef ingredients. Heat to boiling over high heat. Cover; simmer about 1 hour or until beef is tender. Remove beef from liquid; reserve liquid.
• Meanwhile, in 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook and stir onion in oil 15 to 20 minutes or until onion is light golden brown; remove from skillet and set aside. In same skillet, cook garlic 1 to 2 minutes; remove from skillet and set aside.
• Using 2 forks, shred beef. In same skillet heat oil over medium-high heat and add shredded beef to skillet; cook over medium-high heat about 10 minutes or until crispy. Stir in chopped cilantro, lime juice and salt. Add cooked onions and garlic; mix well. Place shredded beef on plates. Serve with reserved liquid. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

VACA FRITA

Steps:

• Cook flank covered pan over low heat on stove top with just enough water to surround the roast, bay leaves, slices of one onion & black pepper. Check frequently and add more water as needed. The roast is done when the meat is tender and starts to shred, approximately 30-45 minutes per pound. Take the cooked meat and pound out with a meat hammer or rolling pin. (meat could be shredded). Sprinkle meat with a little sherry, season with salt, pepper,onion powder oregano and cumin. Saute the garlic cloves and onions in the oil until translucent. Then add the meat. Continue frying until the meat is well done.

VACA FRITA (DAISY)

Steps:

• Bring ingredients through peppercorns to a boil in large pot. Simmer 2 hrs. Let cool. Strain & save broth. Pound steak to about 1/2 in thick. Season both sides with adobo up to 2 days in advance. Cut steak into 1 in strips. Pour 1/4 in oil in skillet & fry until crispy.