Recipe of Ultimate Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef)

Hey everyone, it’s Jim, welcome to my recipe site. Today, I’m gonna show you how to make a distinctive dish, ropa vieja (cuban style stewed shredded beef). One of my favorites. For mine, I am going to make it a little bit unique. This will be really delicious.

Cuban beef stew is made with flank steak, shredded and added to a homemade tomato sauce. It's beyond flavorful and always reminds me of my childhood. We call Cuban beef stew - ropa vieja. This Cuban braised beef dish literally translates to 'old clothes,' because apparently some people thought the fall-apart meat and colorful strips of onions and peppers, tangled together, looked like old, tattered clothing.

Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef) is one of the most popular of current trending foods in the world. It is appreciated by millions every day. It is simple, it is quick, it tastes delicious. Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef) is something that I’ve loved my whole life. They’re nice and they look fantastic.

To begin with this particular recipe, we have to prepare a few ingredients. You can cook ropa vieja (cuban style stewed shredded beef) using 25 ingredients and 9 steps. Here is how you can achieve it.

The ingredients needed to make Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef):

1. Take For efficiency, make sure to put the beef on the stove to boil before you start your knifework
2. Prepare To boil the beef:
3. Make ready 2.5-3 pound chuck roast cut into roughly 8 equal pieces (you can also use skirt or flank)
4. Take 1/2 medium onion, cut in half
5. Get 4 smashed garlic cloves
6. Make ready 1 carrot, cut in thirds
7. Get 1 celery stalk, cut in thirds
8. Take 5 cups water, or enough to cover by about ½ an inch
9. Make ready For the rest:
10. Take 2 Tablespoons oil (olive or vegetable)
11. Take half a medium onion, cut into ¼” strips vertically
12. Make ready 1 red bell pepper, halved, cored, and cut into ¼” strips vertically
13. Take 1/2 green bell pepper, cored and cut into ¼” strips vertically
14. Get 4 cloves garlic, peeled and rough chopped
15. Get 1/4 cup green pitted olives, cut into thirds or quarters
16. Get 1 teaspoon cumin
17. Prepare 1 teaspoon oregano
18. Take 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
19. Get 2 bay leaves
20. Prepare 1 1/2 Tablespoons tomato paste
21. Take 1 (15 oz.) (or so) canned tomatoes
22. Prepare 2 cups boiling liquid
23. Prepare 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
24. Get 1/2 teaspoon sugar
25. Get 1/3 cup frozen peas (optional)

Serve Ropa Vieja with GOYA® Frozen Ripe Plantains for a classic Latin pairing. Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef) Shinae Southern California, USA Ropa Vieja (ROpah vee-EH-hah) translates literally from Spanish as "old clothes," so named because you cook the beef, then shred it up, like tattered old clothes. This recipe for Cuban beef stew is known as ropa vieja which means "old clothes" in Spanish. The name describes the shreds of meat and vegetables in the dish which resemble colorful strips of rags.

Instructions to make Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef):

1. Put the beef, the ½ onion, carrot, celery, and four garlic cloves in a 4 or 5 quart Dutch oven, pour in the water, cover the pot, and place over high heat, until the meat comes to a rolling boil (about 15 to 20 minutes). Then turn the heat down to medium, keeping the pot completely covered, and continue to boil the beef for another 40 to 50 minutes, or until the thickest part of the largest piece of beef is very easily pierced with a fork.
2. While the beef is boiling, do all your knifework and set aside. When the beef is boiled, remove all the pieces from the liquid and cool for at least 20 minutes or while you prepare the base of the stew. Save 2 cups of the liquid in a mixing bowl or other container. You can discard the rest, or save it, like I do, to use as soup or sauce stock.
3. In your Dutch oven, bring 2 Tablespoons oil up to slightly higher than medium heat and saute your onions, peppers, and garlic for 3 or 4 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and begin to wilt.
4. Add in the cumin, oregano, black pepper, and bay leaves and stir to distribute evenly. Then add in tomato paste, canned tomatoes, boiling liquid, 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, and ½ teaspoon sugar, and stir to completely dissolve the tomato paste into the liquid. At this point, your beef should be ready to shred. Remember the turn the heat off while you shred. :)
5. Loosely shred all the beef (it doesn’t have to be a fine shred, unless you insist on it that way, but it is a little more work. Besides, the simmering will continue to separate the meat fibers a little more.) and put into pot with the stewing liquid. Turn the heat up to medium high and stir to incorporate thoroughly.
6. With the pot covered, bring the Ropa Vieja up to a rolling boil for about 2 minutes (should take 7 to 8 minutes), uncover, stir a couple of times, turn the heat down to medium and simmer, fully covered, for another 15 minutes, stirring a couple of times halfway.
7. Remove the lid and simmer the ropa vieja for another 10 to 12 minutes, stirring a couple of times halfway through to ensure everything is evenly cooked. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning if needed.
8. Remove from heat and let cool for at least 15 minutes (this will give the flavors time to set and the sauce time to thicken). If you’re adding frozen peas, right after you cut the heat is when you would fold them in. Adding them in at the end helps them retain their texture and color better.
9. Buen provecho! :)

This recipe for Cuban beef stew is known as ropa vieja which means "old clothes" in Spanish. The name describes the shreds of meat and vegetables in the dish which resemble colorful strips of rags. This beef stew is hearty enough to eat on its own but also goes well over rice dishes and soaked up with crusty bread. Ropa Vieja, which means "old clothes" in Spanish, is one of Cuba's national dishes but is claimed by other cultures as well. In a large skillet, brown beef in oil on all sides.

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