Carne mechada is beef skirt, cooked until tender, pulled apart to remove the nasty sinews, connecting tissue, etc, then cooked once more with aromatics like sweet chiles, onions, spring onions, peppers and coriander leaf. It's a Venezuelan classic and part of our national dish, which also includes white rice, fried plantains and black beans. My wife loves this, so I rescued a packet of beef skirt from the freezer and put it together.
Ingredients:
750 gms beef skirt
1 small onion
2 spring onions
3-4 sweet chiles (ají dulce)
3-4 sprigs coriander leaf,stalks as well.
salt
water to cover
For the sauce:
1 small onion, diced
1 spring onion, green part as well, diced
3-4 sweet chiles, diced
1/2 bell pepper ( green, red, yellow, doesn't matter)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
olive oil
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and black pepper
Water to cover
Method:
Ingredients:
750 gms beef skirt
1 small onion
2 spring onions
3-4 sweet chiles (ají dulce)
3-4 sprigs coriander leaf,stalks as well.
salt
water to cover
For the sauce:
1 small onion, diced
1 spring onion, green part as well, diced
3-4 sweet chiles, diced
1/2 bell pepper ( green, red, yellow, doesn't matter)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
olive oil
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and black pepper
Water to cover
Method:
- Place the first 6 ingredients in a pot, with a lid. Cover with water, bring to a boil and cook for about 1 ½ hours or until the meat is tender. ( You can use a pressure cooker, in which case, cook for 30 minutes).
- Once the meat is cooked, and cooled, remove from the pan and shred, removing all sinew and connecting tissues. Pour off any remaining liquid/aromatics and reserve for the sauce.
- Pour some olive oil into a large pan and add the onion, spring onion, sweet chiles, pepper and garlic. Fry gently until soft.
- Now add the tomatoes and fry for 5 more minutes.
- Add the meat, any remaining liquid/aromatics, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Add water to barely cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated, adjust seasoning and serve with fried plantains, white rice and black beans.
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