- 2 LBS Skirt Steak
- 1 TBSP Vegetable Oil
- 1 EA Garlic Clove (finely chopped)
- 1 Cup Red Onion (finely chopped)
- 1 1/3 Cup Green Peppers (julienne)
- 1 1/2 Cup Aji Dulce Chile Peppers
- 1 TBSP Paprika
- 3/4 Cup MAGGI tomato Sauce (Panamanian style)
- Brine skirt steak overnight to tenderize
- Pat dry skirt steak, season with salt and pepper and sear on all sides
- Cook skirt steak tender in a crock pot for 6 hours on medium heat
- Pull the cooked meat into stringy ropes
- In a saucepan fry garlic, onion, and paprika in vegetable oil
- Add the meat and tomato sauce and cook for additional 5 minute
- Typically served with white rice
Ropa Vieja literally means old clothes. This is a simple dish that was introduced to the New World by the Spanish expansion into the Caribbean, Central and South America. The lore that traveled with this popular dish is as enticing as the dish itself. Born from need and the love for family, it is told that a penniless man shredded the clothes off his own back and boiled them in a pot to feed his starving family. By the time his family sat down to eat, his sincere and desperate prayers had turned the pot of rags into a delicious beef stew.
Moving here, North Americans will eventually push a cart down the aisle of their neighborhood Panamanian grocery store. Most products will be familiar, until they get to the meat department. First of all, you’ll have to be patient about standing in line, ordering your meat over the counter, from a butcher, out of a cold case in front of you. Also, the added degrees of difficulty will be the unrecognizable cuts of meat and everything is in Spanish – including the butcher. In fact, if you need to learn the language, in your new home, the butcher counter would be a practical place to start.
Panamanian meat is different. The meat from the butcher is very fresh. One of the delights of my first visit to Panama was that even cheap grocery store chicken tasted like – chicken. The fresh, local quality of the beef, however, does not translate quite the same. The Brangus beef, raised in Panama, has a wild taste, to the North American palate, and it is not tender. Ever since Columbus brought the first Bramahan cattle to the island of Hispaniola, recipes have required tenderizing the cut. One of those old classics is Ropa Vieja.