One of Kenric’s favorites dishes is Lomo Saltado. He usually orders that at Peruvian restaurants. I saw a photo of it on Facebook recently, and realized we have most of the ingredients, so I made it for him yesterday. Personally, I had found the dish a little odd.

Lomo Saltado literally means Loin Stir Fry, as in Chinese-style stir fry. The main ingredients are beef sirloin, red onions, tomatoes, aji amarillo (Peruvian yellow chili pepper), and soy sauce. Toss in some French fries when it’s almost done, and serve it with rice.

To this ethnic Chinese, the soy sauce and rice (and French fries) in a Peruvian dish just doesn’t compute, but Lomo Saltado is practically the Peruvian national dish. The national dish is actually Ceviche. When slavery was abolished in Peru in 1854, Chinese from southern China were brought in as indentured servants to build railroads, and to work in the sugar plantations, mines, etc.

After they had worked enough to pay off their contracts, some started selling food. The blending of Chinese and Peruvian ingredients and styles cooked up “Chifa” which simply means Peruvian Chinese food, and Lomo Saltado is the most popular Chifa dish.

I didn’t have the chili, used yellow onion instead of red, and frozen potatoes wedges instead of fries. Kenric really loved it, and even said he felt like it was his birthday. It tasted OK to me, but I certainly have a newfound appreciation for it after learning its history.

The lockdown that was supposed to end today has been extended at least through May 4th which means we’ll be inside on his birthday. So, I’m really glad that despite limited ingredients I was able to make my Lomo Saltado wok!