Strips of beef stir-fried with onion, tomato and soy sauce, served over crispy fries, Peru's beloved Chinese-Peruvian fusion classic.
Lomo saltado is the signature dish of chifa cuisine, the Chinese-Peruvian fusion that developed as Cantonese immigrants brought wok cooking techniques to Peru in the 19th century and adapted them with local ingredients. Beef strips are stir-fried hard and fast over high heat with red onion and tomato, seasoned with soy sauce and a splash of vinegar, the wok technique giving the beef a good sear while the vegetables stay just barely softened. Uniquely, crispy French fries are stirred directly into the dish at the very end (or served alongside to keep them crisp), soaking up the savory pan juices, and the whole thing is traditionally served with a side of white rice for an unusual but beloved double-carb pairing.
Serves 4
Toss beef strips with 1 tablespoon soy sauce; let sit 10 minutes.
Fry the potato sticks until golden and crisp, or bake frozen fries according to package instructions; keep warm.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a very hot wok and sear the beef in batches until browned but still pink inside, about 2 minutes per batch; remove.
Sear the beef in small batches over the highest heat your stove can manage — overcrowding the wok drops the temperature and steams the meat instead of searing it.
Add remaining oil, garlic and aji amarillo paste, cooking 1 minute, then add onion and tomato, stir-frying 2-3 minutes until just softened but not mushy.
Return the beef to the wok along with remaining soy sauce and vinegar, tossing everything together over high heat for 1 minute.
Stir in the crispy fries just before serving, tossing briefly to coat.
Garnish with cilantro and serve immediately with white rice.
Sear the beef over the highest possible heat in small batches — this is essential for a proper stir-fry crust rather than gray, steamed meat.
Keep the tomatoes and onion just barely cooked so they retain some bite and don't turn mushy in the finished dish.
Add the fries at the very last moment, just before serving, so they stay as crisp as possible rather than going soggy in the sauce.
A version made with chicken (pollo saltado) is a common lighter alternative.
Some households serve the fries entirely on the side rather than mixed in, to keep them crisper.
A vegetarian lomo saltado uses mushrooms or tofu instead of beef.
Refrigerate the beef and vegetable mixture (without fries) up to 3 days; reheat gently in a hot pan and add freshly cooked fries each time.
Lomo saltado emerged from Peru's chifa tradition, a fusion cuisine developed by Cantonese immigrants who arrived in Peru in the 19th century, blending Chinese stir-fry technique with Peruvian ingredients like aji amarillo and the ever-present side of fries.
It's an unusual but beloved double-carb tradition in Peruvian cooking — the fries add texture and crunch while the rice rounds out the meal.
Yes, pollo saltado follows the exact same technique and is a very popular, slightly lighter variation.
The wok likely wasn't hot enough, or too much beef was added at once — sear in small batches over the highest heat available.
Per serving (450g / 15.9 oz) · 4 servings total
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