Venezuelan Shredded Beef (Carne mechada)

In a previous post I wrote about one typical Venezuelan dish "Pabellon criollo" that comprises black beans, rice, fried banana and Shredded Beef (Carne Mechada).

Shredded beef is also a common filling of the Venezuelan arepa or empanadas. I hope you enjoy my recipe for this South American signature dish.

Ingredients:

- 500 g of beef skirt
- 1 big red capsicum
- 3 medium brown onions
- 5 garlic gloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon of ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons of canola or vegetable oil
- Salt to taste

Preparation:

1. In a large cooking pan place the beef skirt with 1 brown onion cut in half and enough water to cover the beef, season with salt and bring to the boil. Boil for at least 1 hour or until beef is tender.
2. Once cooked set it aside and let it cool. I usually place the water and the beef in the fridge overnight and prepare the dish the next day, don't throw away the water, it can be used as stock for the sauce preparation to add extra flavour.
3. Once cooled, shred the beef, it can be done with your hands or a knife, it doesn't have to be uniform.
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan with high borders.
5. Grate the capsicum and the remaining onions.
6. Fry onions, capsicum, garlic, cumin and salt in the heated oil.
7. Add the shredded beef and stir, allow the beef to brown a little, then add about a cup of the water the beef was cooked into, make sure you heat up the stock since adding cold stock can delay the cooking process, bring to the boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir frequently.
8. Add salt to taste and serve with steamed rice, black beans and fry banana or as a filling for empanadas or arepas.

Some people will recognize the arepas in the background while I was cooking my carne mechada!!! It was a hit with my girls.

Buen provecho!