Friday · cooks for Fri, Sat
Bistec Encebollado with Tostones
thin beef, a mountain of onions, vinegar, oregano, smashed green plantain
The Friday night dish. Thin beef marinated in vinegar and garlic, seared hard, then buried under more onions than seems reasonable and left to slump into a loose, sharp, oniony sauce. Tostones on the side, smashed and double-fried, with mojo for dipping.
Method
20 steps- Toss the beef with the sofrito, vinegar, garlic, oregano, adobo and pepper in a bowl or a zip bag, then refrigerate.
- Thirty minutes is the minimum. An hour is better, and overnight is best if you thought of it Thursday.
- Score the green plantain skins lengthwise in three places, cutting through to the flesh, and lever the skin off in strips with your thumb. They do not peel like a banana.
- Cut the peeled plantains into 1 in rounds.
- Heat 1/2 in of neutral oil in a heavy pan to 325F.
- First fry the rounds 4 minutes a side, until pale gold and just tender, then drain them on paper towels.
- Smash each round flat to about 3/8 in with the bottom of a glass. They can wait here until everything else is done.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in cast iron over medium, add 3 tbsp sofrito, and cook 3 minutes.
- Add the squash and cook 4 minutes, then the green beans, sazon, 1/3 cup water and 1 tsp salt.
- Cover and cook 8 minutes, then uncover and cook 3 minutes more, until the water is gone and both are tender with a little browning.
- Turn the vegetables into a bowl, wipe the pan out, and get it very hot over high heat with 2 tbsp of the olive oil.
- Scrape most of the marinade off the beef and save it in a small bowl.
- Pat the beef dry on both sides. Wet meat will not brown.
- Sear in two batches, 90 seconds a side, then move it to a plate. It should still be underdone in the middle.
- Drop the heat to medium and add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and the onions with a big pinch of salt.
- Cook the onions 6 to 8 minutes, until soft and translucent with browned edges, then add the sazon and the reserved marinade for 1 minute.
- Return the beef and any juices from the plate, add 1/2 cup water, and simmer 5 minutes, turning the steaks in the onions.
- It is done when the beef is tender and the liquid has reduced to a loose sauce. Stir in the lime juice off the heat.
- Second fry the tostones in the air fryer at 400F for 8 minutes, sprayed with oil and flipped halfway, or in 375F oil for 2 minutes a side.
- Salt them the moment they come out, and serve with the mojo de ajo alongside for dipping.
Why It Works
- Double-frying is not fussiness. The first fry at low temperature cooks the interior and drives out water, the smash increases surface area, and the second fry at high temperature flashes off the remaining surface moisture and sets a hard glassy crust. One fry gives you either a raw center or a burnt exterior, never both right. Same principle as twice-fried frites.
- Sear the beef, then finish it in the onions. Cube steak is mechanically tenderized, so it is already structurally loose and overcooks in seconds. The hard sear builds the crust and the five minutes in the onion liquid finishes it gently while the sauce forms. Cooking it through in the initial sear gives you shoe leather.
- Scrape the marinade off first. Anything wet or sugary on the surface steams and then burns before the meat browns. It goes back in later, once the pan wants liquid.
Day Two
Bistec with all its onions and sauce in one container, 3 days. Vegetables separately. Tostones do not keep, so if you want them Saturday, do the first fry and the smash on Friday for all six and leave them on the counter overnight between the fries.
Bistec goes in a covered skillet over low heat for 6 minutes. The onions and sauce protect the meat, but any real heat will overcook it. Vegetables go in a hot dry pan for 4 minutes. Tostones get their second fry straight from the counter.
A proper daiquiri, not the frozen thing
2 oz white rum, 3/4 oz lime, 1/2 oz simple syrup, shaken hard and served up. Acid and rum against vinegar-sharp beef and fried plantain is one of the great pairings, and it takes ninety seconds. A cold lager with lime does the same job.