Recipe byThe ZestyPlate Kitchen
Skirt steak pressure-cooked until tender, shredded, then simmered with peppers, tomatoes and spices into a rich filling. Lovely with rice or in arepas.
Carne mechada is Venezuela's shredded beef, skirt steak cooked until it pulls apart, then simmered into a savoury tomato, pepper and onion sauce. It is rich, comforting and endlessly useful, turning up in arepas, in pabellon criollo and far beyond. A pressure cooker takes the long wait out of getting the meat tender enough to shred.
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Prep 20 min
Cook 60 min
Total 80 min
Medium
Scale:
- 2 Lbs Skirty Steak
- 2 cloves minced Garlic
- 1 sliced Onion
- 1 sliced Red Pepper
- 3 sliced thinly Tomato
- 4 cups Beef Stock
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Tomato Puree
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1/4 cup Tomato Ketchup
- To taste Salt
- To taste Pepper
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Preparation
- Season the beef with salt, pepper and the minced garlic.
- Cut 1 onion into 4 big wedges.
- Put the beef in a pressure cooker with the onion wedges and the stock.
- Pressure cook for 20 minutes.
- Release the pressure and open the lid.
- Take out the beef and set aside 2 cups of the stock in another container.
- Shred the beef with two forks. It should give way easily; if not, cook it another 10 minutes.
- Press the sauté button and add the olive oil.
- Once hot, add the sliced onion, pepper and tomatoes and cook until tender.
- Return the shredded beef and stir through.
- Pour in 1½ cups of the reserved stock along with the Worcestershire sauce, tomato purée, ketchup and cumin, and mix. Add a little more stock if the sauce looks dry.
- Season with salt and pepper, then serve.
Tips from the ZestyPlate Kitchen
- Cook the beef until two forks pull it apart with no resistance. A pressure cooker gets you there fast.
- Hold back some of the cooking stock to loosen the sauce further down the line.
- Soften the onion, pepper and tomato before the beef goes back in, so the sauce has real depth.
- Let the shredded beef sit in the sauce a while to drink up all that flavour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Skirt or flank steak is the traditional choice because it shreds so cleanly once cooked. Brisket does the job well too.
Stuff it into arepas or empanadas, serve it with rice and black beans as part of pabellon criollo, or pile it into tacos and wraps.
Easily. Simmer the beef in stock over a low heat for a couple of hours until it shreds, then carry on with the sauce as written.
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