Most people know churrasco as a grilled thick cut of beef, very popular in Brazil, where they have specialty restaurants called churasqueiras, as well as in Argentina and Uruguay where churrascos are part of the popular asados or parrilladas. Ecuadorian churrasco is sort of the poorer cousin of the Brazilian, Argentinean and Uruguayan churrasco, it is made with a thin cut of steak, and it actually refers to an entire plate of food: a grilled or sometimes fried thin steak topped with a crispy fried egg served with rice, French fries, ripe plantains, a small salad, avocado slices and hot sauce.
Most restaurants that serve national food will have a version of churrasco on their menu, it is a pretty big plate of food, which is typical of an Ecuadorian almuerzo or lunch – consisting of a soup as a first course, large plate of rice with meat, small salad, sides like yuca or cassava, potatoes, and plantains as a second course, and a small dessert or fruit as a final course.
Ingredients:
2 lb thin beef steaks, skirt steaks are a good choice
12 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbs ground cumin
Salt and pepper
Preparation:
- Mix the crushed garlic, cumin, salt and pepper together to make a marinade for the meat.
- Rub the garlic cumin marinade on the thin steaks and let marinate for a couple of hours.
- Grill or fry the steaks over high heat to desired doneness; since they are relatively thin they won’t take too long to cook.
- Serve the steaks with a crispy fried egg or two on top and accompanied by rice, homemade fries, fried ripe plantains, tomato and onion curtido, lettuce, cucumber slices, avocado slices and aji criollo.
Tags: Churrasco, Ecuador, Ecuadorian Cuisine, Food, Quito
