Sudado de Carne (Colombian Beef Stew)

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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.

Cook Time1 10

Total Time1 10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Colombian

Keyword: beef stew

Servings:

Calories: 760kcal

Author: Angela Giraldo

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds beef, cut into pieces a cut with connective tissue: chuck or shin, not steak
½ 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
¼ teaspoon cumin
5 potatoes, peeled and sliced they break down at the edges and thicken the broth
½ 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

Instructions

Heat a little oil in a pot and cook the finely chopped onion and the bell pepper until the onion turns translucent.
Add the tomatoes, the chopped garlic, salt and pepper, and cook for five minutes.
Add the beef, the water, the cassava and the cumin. Turn the heat down, cover, and cook for about 40 minutes.
Add the potato and the cilantro and cook for another 30 minutes, until everything is tender and the broth has thickened.
Serve with white rice and a salad.

Notes

Sudar means to sweat, and that is the technique: the pot stays covered and the heat stays low, so the meat cooks in its own steam rather than in a rolling boil. Lifting the lid every few minutes undoes it. Use a cut with connective tissue, chuck or shin, because seventy minutes will dry out anything lean. The potato is doing structural work here: as it softens at the edges it thickens the broth, which is why there is no flour in the recipe. On the Caribbean coast the cassava is not optional, and inland it is often left out entirely.

Nutrition