Lomo saltado
Lomo saltado
A Peruvian-Chinese stir-fry: beef, onion, tomato, soy and fries — on the same plate as rice.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Lomo saltado.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- Mild
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Lomo saltado is chifa cooking: high heat, soy and vinegar, strips of beef, red onion and tomato that should still be themselves, and French fries tossed through or piled on. Rice on the side. If the tomato collapses into sauce, the pan was crowded or timid. A crowded wok is a stew in denial. Preheat until a drop of water vanishes, then cook the beef in batches so it sears. Tomatoes should be wedges that still hold; add them last. Vinegar off the hottest spot so you get sharpness, not a sour steam cloud that never leaves. Fries go in at the end for thirty seconds, not ten minutes. If you only have a small frying pan, accept two batches. Soy is seasoning, not a puddle. Drain the meat's marinade or you boil it.
Ingredients
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Fry or bake the potatoes until crisp. Cook rice.
20 minStep 2
Scorch the beef in a ripping-hot pan, in batches. Lift out. Toss onion, tomato, garlic and ají 1 minute. Return beef with soy and vinegar. Fries in at the end so they stay fried.
8 minStep 3
Coriander. Rice. Eat immediately.
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 October.
Substitutions
Beef → Mushrooms
A vegetarian saltado. Still wants the fries.
Tips
- Ají amarillo paste is the Peruvian heat. A fresh chilli is a stand-in.
- Do not cover the pan. This is a fry, not a stew.
History & culture
Lima's Chinese-Peruvian kitchen as national lunch. It is not a lomo from Colombia or a generic stir-fry. Lima lunch tables treat this as ordinary, which is the highest compliment. Rice and fries on one plate looks like excess until you eat it and understand the textures. Chifa is Peruvian cooking, not a borrowed costume. Homes still reach for ají amarillo paste from a jar, and that is normal. A pale version without onion bite is cafeteria food. The onion should stay a little raw at the edges.
Cantonese technique, Peruvian beef and chilli, soy. The 20th-century plate that became everyday. Cantonese high-heat habits met Andean chilli, local beef, and a taste for chips that already existed in the cities. Twentieth-century migration made the plate national. It did not require a manifesto. It required a burner that could get hot and a public that already ate rice. Later gourmet versions add balsamic and fuss. The working plate is still soy, vinegar, onion, tomato, and speed.
Modern adaptation
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.
How long does Lomo saltado take?
40 min all in — 20 min prep, 20 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 3 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
Mild.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Soy. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Nut-free.
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Wok, Baking tray, Oven.
How much salt do I put in?
This recipe does not list salt as its own ingredient. Saltiness comes from Soy sauce — 2 tbsp. Taste at the end rather than adding a number we did not write.
How much soy sauce?
2 tbsp of Soy sauce.
How much vinegar?
1 tbsp of Vinegar.
What can I use instead?
Beef → Mushrooms. A vegetarian saltado. Still wants the fries.
Any tips from this recipe?
Ají amarillo paste is the Peruvian heat. A fresh chilli is a stand-in. Do not cover the pan. This is a fry, not a stew.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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