Peruvian Lomo Saltado Stir-Fried Beef with Tomatoes, Onions, Soy Sauce, Fries and Steamed Rice

Prepare your ingredients before you start cooking — lomo saltado is a stir-fry that moves very fast and requires everything at hand. Cut the beef into thick strips, season generously with salt, pepper, and cumin. Set up the onion wedges, tomato wedges, garlic, and chili separately.

Ingredients

• For the lomo:
• 600g (1.3 lbs) beef sirloin or tenderloin, cut into thick finger-sized strips
• 2 large red onions, cut into thick wedges
• 3 ripe Roma tomatoes, cut into wedges (seeded)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 aji amarillo pepper (or 2 tbsp aji amarillo paste) — the essential Peruvian chili
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp neutral oil with high smoke point
• Salt and black pepper
• For serving:
• 2 cups cooked white rice
• 3 large russet potatoes, cut into fries and deep-fried or oven-roasted until golden
• Extra cilantro and lime wedges

Instructions

1. Prepare your ingredients before you start cooking — lomo saltado is a stir-fry that moves very fast and requires everything at hand. Cut the beef into thick strips, season generously with salt, pepper, and cumin. Set up the onion wedges, tomato wedges, garlic, and chili separately.
2. Cook the fries first: fry or roast the potato strips until deeply golden and crispy. Season immediately with salt. Set aside and keep warm. The fries go into the stir-fry at the end — this is what makes lomo saltado uniquely Peruvian-Chinese: the fries absorb all the sauces.
3. Heat a large wok or heavy skillet over the absolute highest heat your stove produces. The wok must be screaming hot — this is essential. Add the oil and let it heat until it shimmers and smokes slightly.
4. Add the beef in a single layer. Do not stir immediately — let it sear hard for 1-2 minutes to develop a deep crust. Then toss vigorously. You want the beef to char and caramelize, not steam. Remove beef from the wok and set aside.
5. In the same hot wok, add the onion wedges and aji amarillo. Stir-fry over the highest heat for 2-3 minutes — the onion should char at the edges and soften slightly while retaining some crunch.
6. Add the garlic and tomato wedges. Toss everything together. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and red wine vinegar — they will hiss and steam dramatically when they hit the hot wok. This steam carries extraordinary flavor.
7. Return the beef to the wok. Toss everything together. Add the hot fries and toss gently — you do not want to crush them, but you want every fry to get coated in the sauce.
8. Scatter cilantro generously and toss once more. Serve immediately alongside steamed white rice. Lomo saltado is the signature dish of chifa — the Peruvian-Chinese culinary fusion born when Chinese laborers arrived in Peru in the 1800s. It is one of the world's great accidental culinary traditions.