Old Clothes Beef and Peppers
Cuban ropa vieja rebuilt around freeze-dried beef and dried vegetables, cooked in one pot.
- calories
- 690
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 125
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 500 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Bikepacking
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried shredded beef | 2 oz | already in strands, which is the whole point of the dish |
|---|---|---|
| Dried bell pepper strips | 1/4 cup | |
| Dried chopped onion | 2 tbsp | |
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | sun-dried tomato pieces work if you cannot find powder |
| Instant white rice | 3/4 cup | the quick-cooking kind, not parboiled long grain |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cumin and dried oregano | 1/2 tsp each | |
| Dried cilantro | 1 tsp | stirred in at the end, not boiled |
Method
- Pour 500 ml of water into the pot and add the beef, peppers, onion, tomato powder, salt, cumin, and oregano.
- Bring it to a boil, then hold it at a low simmer for about eight minutes. The vegetables need that time to stop being crunchy.
- Stir in the instant rice, cover, and cut the heat. Leave it eight minutes without lifting the lid.
- Pour the oil over the top, scatter the cilantro, and stir once. If it looks dry, a splash of water fixes it.
Ropa vieja on the stove at home is a three-hour braise: a whole flank steak goes soft enough to pull into threads. You cannot do that on a canister. So the recipe starts where the braise ends, with freeze-dried beef that already comes apart in strands and rehydrates in minutes.
The rest is substitution. Tomato powder replaces fresh tomato and thickens the liquid at the same time. Dried peppers and onion go in at the start because they need the full simmer, while the cilantro goes in off the heat, where it still tastes like something. Wine is dead weight on trail, so vinegar carries the acid instead.
Packing
Meat, vegetables, tomato powder, and spices go in one bag. Rice goes in a second bag so it stays out of the pot until the simmer is done. Oil rides in a dropper bottle.
Variations
- A splash of red wine vinegar at the end stands in for the white wine in the original.
- Skip the rice and eat it as a thick stew, or spoon it over crushed plantain chips.
https://www.advrider.com/kitchen-travel-best-recipes-from-around-the-world