Ropa Vieja | Cuban Braised Beef Recipe (Receta Cubana)

Here is a 𝗥𝗼𝗽𝗮 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗷𝗮 recipe made the traditional way without Slow Cooker or Instant Pot. Ropa Vieja is a Cuban braised beef dish made with flank steak, which is lean and has long shreddy fibers, and we can only guess that this is how the dish earned the name "old clothes." When served with Maduro's (fried sweet plantains), Cuban-style black beans, and rice, it is a perfect example of Cuban cuisine's simplicity and unmistakable taste profile.

While many consider Ropa Vieja to be a national dish of Cuba, some would dispute that! Some claim that Cuba stole the dish or recipe from a Spanish island off North Africa called the Canary Islands. As with many significant parts of Cuban culture, the ropa vieja recipe resembles many Spanish cuisine aspects. However, the Cuban ropa vieja is nothing like what you will find in Southern Spain, where Ropa Vieja contains garbanzo beans and potatoes. In fact, many Spaniels will tell you that the Ropa Vieja Cubana is just better!

𝐑𝐨𝐩𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞

For the Ropa Vieja recipe I made in this YouTube video, we will need the following:
- 1.5 lbs of flank steak (some people think this is optional. It is not! The alternatives chuck and or brisket don't ever come close in taste and or texture)
- 1.5 bell pepper (sliced) I used three colors because it looks better. One-color will suffice.
- .5 white onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 8 ounces of tomato sauce (plain pasta sauce will work as well!)
- 15 ounces of chopped tomatoes (I prefer the fire-roasted once)
- 16 ounces of stock (beef, vegetable, or chicken will do!)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon of each (Salt, Black Pepper, Cumin, Onion Powder, Galic Powder, Smoked Paprika, Oregano, Brown Sugar)
- pinch of old bay spice
- dry white cooking wine
- .5 cup of Spanish olives

𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐮𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐩𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐣𝐚

The thing that makes this Ropa Vieja recipe video a little different than many of the other videos you find on YouTube is that we'll not be using an Instant Pot, a Ninja, a Slow Cooker, or even a Pressure Cooker. We are going to be cooking our Ropa Vieja, the traditional restaurant style.

Why? Well, I believe in using quality ingredients, and the only reason one would have to put something in the pressure cooker is if the meat, for example, is of such low quality that it needs tenderizing. I started to work at a very young age, more often than not in the food industry, and have had the privilege to work in many well-known Cuban restaurants in the Miami area. Not once have I seen an Instant Pot, a Ninja, a Slow Cooker, or even a Pressure Cooker.

Another difference, when compared to many 𝐑𝐨𝐩𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐞, is that I will be using flank steak rather than chuck or even brisket. Why? If we stay true to the recipe and the name of the dish, "Ropa Vieja," describing old shredded clothes, you are just not going to get the same texture or taste profile from any other cut of beef, including chuck or brisket. People use the chuck, brisket, Instant Pot, a Ninja, a Sloe Cooker, or even a Pressure Cooker to cut corners. Unfortunately, this is not one of those dishes that you can speed up or cut corners. The taste is just not the same.

To prepare our Ropa Vieja, we'll start by cutting our flank stakes into pieces about 2/3 of the saucepan's size we are going to cook it in. It is an excellent practice to cut them into equal size pieces so they cook evenly. We then need to reason our beef. I separated the amount of seasoning into two containers - one to be used for seasoning the flank steaks the other for our braising.

After thoroughly seasoning the beef, I made a pouch out of aluminum foil and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour. I then placed my saucepan over medium-high heat and seared each steak for about 2-minutes per side. We don't want to cook them, just brown them and create a fond on the pot. When done, lower the heat to medium and add the onion, followed by the garlic, the rest of the seasoning, and cook for about a minute. Then proceed to add the chopped tomatoes, the tomato sauce, and the stock. Place the steaks back in the saucepan, bring the heat to high. Once it comes to a boil, add the tomato paste and the bay leaves. Lower the heat to low and simmer for 2-hours.

After the cooking time has expired, you can let it rest for a bit, proceed to the completion, or do as many renowned Cuban restaurants do and put it in the fridge overnight. To complete our dish, we need to remove the steaks from the saucepan and shred them, preferably by hand. We then put the shredded pieces back on the saucepan and turn the heat to medium-high. Once it has come to temperature, add your peppers and olives and cook for 20 minutes over medium heat. As I said in the video, I think the peas are not part of the original recipe, but I like the taste and added texture they give to the dish. About 15-minutes in, go ahead and add a cup of frozen peas, and you are DONE!

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Видео Ropa Vieja | Cuban Braised Beef Recipe (Receta Cubana) канала The Cuban Redneck DIY Channel