Sudado de Carne (Colombian Beef Stew)

Name: Sudado de Carne (Colombian Beef Stew)
Cook time: 70 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds beef, cut into pieces (a cut with connective tissue: chuck or shin, not steak); 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped; 1 clove garlic, finely chopped; 1 red bell pepper, chopped (pimentón: the fresh vegetable, not paprika powder); 2 cups tomato, chopped; 1/4 teaspoon cumin; 5 potatoes, peeled and sliced (they break down at the edges and thicken the broth); 1/2 pound cassava (optional; standard in the coastal version, less so inland); Salt and pepper, to taste; 3 cups water; Cilantro (goes in near the end, not at the start)

Beef cooked slowly with potato, cassava and a base of tomato, onion and bell pepper until the broth thickens by itself. The name comes from the method: covered and gentle, so the meat cooks in its own steam. Serves four.

Total: 1 10

JUMP TO RECIPE

Beef cooked slowly with potato and cassava in a base of tomato, onion and bell pepper, until the broth thickens on its own. In Colombia this is a sudado, and the name is the instruction.

Dish with beef stew, white rice and salad

Sudar means to sweat

The pot stays covered and the heat stays low. The meat cooks in the steam it releases rather than in a rolling boil, which is what keeps it tender over more than an hour of cooking.

Lifting the lid to check every few minutes lets that steam out and undoes the technique. Set it low, cover it, and leave it alone.

The cut matters more than the recipe

Use beef with connective tissue in it: chuck, shin, brisket. Seventy minutes of gentle cooking turns that tissue into gelatine, which is what makes the meat give way and the broth feel rich.

A lean cut like sirloin does the opposite. It has nothing to break down, so it just dries out and turns stringy. This is the most common reason a sudado disappoints, and it is decided at the butcher rather than at the stove.

What the potato is doing

There is no flour in this recipe and none is needed. As the potato cooks, its edges break down into the liquid and thicken it. That is why the potatoes go in at the halfway point rather than at the start: they need enough time to soften and not so much that they dissolve completely.

Cassava does the same thing more emphatically. On the Caribbean coast it is not optional, and inland it is often left out.

Getting the base right

Onion, bell pepper, tomato, garlic and cumin, cooked down before the meat goes in. This is the same foundation as most Colombian cooking, and the closer it gets to a paste before the liquid arrives, the better the finished broth.

Note that pimentón in a Colombian recipe means the fresh bell pepper, never paprika powder.

More stews

Chicken stew — the same method with chicken.
Carne desmechada — beef boiled then pulled.
Beef sancocho — the soup version, with corn and plantain.
Meatball stew — with cassava and saffron.
Roasted goat — cabrito, for a celebration.

Sudado de Carne FAQ

What does sudado mean?

It means sweated. The pot is covered and the heat kept low so the meat cooks in its own steam rather than in a hard boil, which is what keeps it tender through more than an hour of cooking.

Which cut of beef should I use?

One with connective tissue: chuck, shin or brisket. Long gentle cooking turns that tissue into gelatine and the meat gives way. Lean cuts like sirloin have nothing to break down and come out dry and stringy.

Why is there no flour in it?

Because the potato does the thickening. As it softens, its edges break down into the broth. That is also why the potatoes go in halfway through rather than at the beginning.

Is the cassava necessary?

It depends where you are. On the Colombian Caribbean coast it is standard; inland it is often left out entirely. It thickens the broth more emphatically than potato does.

What does the recipe mean by red paprika?

A red bell pepper. Pimentón in Colombian Spanish is the fresh vegetable, and translations routinely turn it into paprika, which is the dried powder and a completely different thing.