A Venezuelan Classic – Carne Mechada with Arepas

At my local coffee house there was this great barista, whose coffees were spot on and her jovial manner made it a pleasure to drop on by. One day she said,
 

Have you tried carne mechada?

No, I replied.
 
You must try, it’s so good. My boyfriend is from Venezuela and absolutely swears by it.
 

For sure,  I’ll definitely try it,

I said. The next time I would go in for coffee 
 
Have you tried it yet?
 
No, I keep forgetting…I will though, sounds really good.
 
Next time – it would just be a look and raise of the eyebrows. The response would be a grimace and little shame of the head.
 
And then one day, without prompting I  went in and said,
 
I’ve made it!
 
And what do you think?
 
’Orrible, never again!
 
She was so sure of the dish that she smirked and knew that I was impressed. And I had actually made it, and it was terrific, and I’ve made it a few times more since then, and guess what? Now I share it with you.
 
So, what is this classic Venezuelan dish? Basically it consists of poached flank steak and onions, the meat is then pulled and fried in a red pepper sauce. Now in Venezuela it is traditionally served with rice and beans, but I like to serve it with arepas, those beautiful corn meal based cakes that are a staple in Columbia and Venezuela.
 
So, what is flank steak? Well this long flat steak, which I guess is not really a steak in the classical sense, comes from the cow’s lower chest or abdominal muscle; it is inexpensive , lean, flavourful and extremely versatile. It’s perfect for thin slicing to use in  a stir-fry although  it will be a little too tough as full steak. That’s why marinating or braising can bring the best out of it. It does’t have the delicious fatty taste that marbled cuts have, but it does has a really beefy flavour that when poached also creates a delicious, hearty broth. And that’s what we are going to do for this dish, poach the flank steak with onions, black peppercorns, salt and bay leaf.
 
As we are going to serve this with arepas, made from a pre-cooked corn meal called masa lista, we are going to reduce the broth a little more than if it were to be served with beans an rice. 
 

Carne Mechada with Arepas

Serves: 4 Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat
Rating: 5.0/5
( 2 voted )
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Ingredients

For the Beef
1.5kg flank steak (beef skirt)
2 onions – quartered
2 pinches sea salt
8 black peppercorns – whole
1 fresh bay leaf

For the Sauce
2 tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp. cumin seeds
5 garlic cloves – finely sliced
2 onions – quartered and sliced
3 red bell peppers (capsicum) – quartered and sliced
4 tomatoes – peeled and diced
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce – plus extra if desired
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
750ml reserved beef cooking broth – from poaching

For the Arepas
250g pre-cooked white corn meal (masa lista) – plus extra if required
20g unsalted butter
500ml warm water
1 good pinch sea salt
50-100g unsalted butter – for frying

Method

For the beef: cut the flank steak into 2 pieces and add to a large pan or stock pot. Add the 2 quartered onions, sea salt, black peppercorns and bay leaf. Cover with cold water to about 5cm above the meat. Slow poach for about 2 hours.

For the sauce: start about an hour in to the poaching of the beef. First peel the tomatoes by first scoring a cross in the base of each and then blanching in boiling water (kettle hot) for a minute. Remove the tomatoes from the hot water, and carefully peel away the skins when cool enough to handle.

Heat a large sauté pan with high sides over a medium heat. When hot add the olive oil. Now add the cumin seeds, then the sliced garlic and the onions. Shake the pan and stir. Now add the sliced red pepper and adjust the heat. Sauté for about 4-5 minutes until soft. We don’t want the ingredients to stick or caramelise so stir frequently.

Add the diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, salt and black pepper and mix well. Cook on low-medium heat, frequently stirring, whilst preparing the beef. Add extra seasoning and Worcestershire sauce if required.

For the beef: At this point the beef should be ready, so remove it from the water and let it cool slightly on a rack. Strain the poaching broth and keep warm in a clean pan. Shred the beef with 2 forks and set aside

Add the shredded meat and 750ml of the reserved beef broth (poaching liquid) to the red pepper sauce. Bring the mixture to a rolling simmer and cook uncovered for about 20 minutes – if you are serving your carne mechada with rice and beans, classic Venezuelan style, go ahead a leave the sauce a little wetter. If serving with arepas then reduce the sauce until most of the broth has reduced.

For the arepas: to a bowl add the cornmeal, butter, salt and warm water and mix with your hands until an even paste is formed. Leave the paste to rest for 5 minutes, covered, and then bring it together and knead it in to a dough. Use a little more cornmeal if the dough is too wet.

Melt about 5g of butter in a heavy based frying pan over medium heat. From a just larger than golf ball sized piece of arepas dough form a thin 15 cm diameter disc – you should get about 8 arepas in total. Fry both sides until golden – about 2-3 minutes each side. Be careful with the heat; if over cooked the arepas will be dry. If under cooked it will be too doughy.

Once the beef and pepper sauce has reduced enough serve immediately on the arepas. Disfruta de tu comida!

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