Name: Tacu tacu con lomo saltado
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 37 min
Total time: 75 min
Cuisine: Peruvian cuisine
Ingredients: 480 g cooked canary beans — drained and cooled; mash roughly one-third; 440 g cooked white rice — cold and refrigerated promptly after cooking; 100 g red onion — finely diced; 12 g garlic — minced; 25 g ají amarillo paste; 40 ml vegetable oil — 20 ml bean seasoning, 20 ml cakes; 3 g fine salt; 2 g ground cumin; 560 g beef tenderloin — trimmed, in thick strips; 220 g red onion — in large wedges; 260 g ripe tomato — cut into wide wedges; 35 g fresh ají amarillo — deseeded and thinly sliced; 40 ml soy sauce — regular; 25 ml red wine vinegar; 25 ml vegetable oil — for high-heat beef and vegetables; 1 g ground black pepper; 12 g cilantro leaves — chopped

Tacu tacu con lomo saltado — crisp beans and rice with beef stir-fry

Yield 4 composed plates

Prep 35 minutes

Cook 37 minutes

Passive 3 minutes

Total 75 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Tacu tacu con lomo saltado — crisp beans and rice with beef stir-fry

Tacu tacu is a seasoned mixture of cooked beans and rice, shaped in a hot pan until the exterior forms a crust. In this pairing it carries lomo saltado, the fast stir-fry of beef with onion, tomato, ají amarillo, soy sauce and vinegar. One is deliberately firm and browned; the other is juicy and served immediately.

Cooked canary beans are particularly practical for the base because a few mashed beans bind the rice without flour. The tacu tacu must be firm enough to turn yet soft in the middle. Allow the pan to form a crust before trying to lift it, and keep the cakes warm on separate plates while the beef is cooked.

Lomo saltado depends on a properly heated pan and small loads. A crowded skillet steams beef, and overcooked tomato collapses instead of contributing fresh acidity. Soy sauce and vinegar provide the savoury, tangy finish; the tender beef is checked with a thermometer rather than judged safe only by the browned exterior.

Ingredients

For four tacu tacu cakes

480 g cooked canary beans — drained and cooled; mash roughly one-third
440 g cooked white rice — cold and refrigerated promptly after cooking
100 g red onion — finely diced
12 g garlic — minced
25 g ají amarillo paste
40 ml vegetable oil — 20 ml bean seasoning, 20 ml cakes
3 g fine salt
2 g ground cumin

Lomo saltado topping

560 g beef tenderloin — trimmed, in thick strips
220 g red onion — in large wedges
260 g ripe tomato — cut into wide wedges
35 g fresh ají amarillo — deseeded and thinly sliced
40 ml soy sauce — regular
25 ml red wine vinegar
25 ml vegetable oil — for high-heat beef and vegetables
1 g ground black pepper
12 g cilantro leaves — chopped

Method

Prepare the bean mixture.Mash roughly one-third of the drained beans and mix it with the remaining beans and cold rice in a large bowl. Set aside while the seasoning cooks. The mixture clumps when gently pressed but retains visible rice and whole beans. Time: 10 minutes.
Season the tacu tacu.Heat 20 ml oil in a skillet on medium. Cook 100 g diced onion for 4 minutes, add garlic for 1 minute, then ají amarillo paste, cumin and 3 g salt for 2 minutes. Fold this seasoning through the beans and rice. The base smells savoury and has no streaks of uncooked ají paste. Time: 7 minutes.
Form and brown four cakes.Divide the warm mixture into four portions. Heat the other 20 ml oil and brown two cakes at a time in a wide non-stick pan, about 5 minutes each side per batch; transfer to warm plates, then repeat the second batch. Each cake has a firm brown crust and releases from the pan without tearing. Time: 20 minutes.
Prepare the beef and vegetables.Cut and dry the beef, wedge the red onion and tomatoes, and slice the fresh ají amarillo. Measure soy sauce, vinegar and the 25 ml stir-fry oil so everything is ready before the wok is heated. The beef surfaces are dry and the vegetables are in large, distinct pieces. Time: 12 minutes.
Sear beef in two loads.Heat half the 25 ml stir-fry oil in a wok until shimmering. Sear half the beef for 3 minutes, then transfer to a clean plate; repeat with the second half and remaining oil for 3 minutes. Check thick strips for at least 63 °C. The beef is deeply seared but still flexible; thick strips register at least 63 °C. Time: 6 minutes.
Rest the seared beef.Leave the safely cooked strips on a clean warm plate for 3 minutes before the final toss. Use the pause to keep the prepared vegetable wedges ready at the wok. The beef juices have settled on the clean plate. Time: 3 minutes passive resting.
Flash-cook the vegetables.With the wok still hot, stir-fry the 220 g onion wedges and fresh ají amarillo for 2 minutes, then add tomato wedges for 1 minute. Keep the pieces moving so the tomato edges soften without dissolving. The onion retains a little bite and the tomato wedges remain recognisable. Time: 3 minutes.
Make the pan sauce.Return beef and any collected juices to the wok. Add 40 ml soy sauce, 25 ml vinegar, pepper and the cilantro; toss for 1 minute, then take off the heat immediately. The sauce glazes the beef lightly and still runs between the vegetable pieces. Time: 1 minute.
Top each tacu tacu.Spoon the hot lomo saltado evenly onto all four crisp rice-and-bean cakes and serve at once before the sauce softens the crust. The cake remains crusted underneath the glossy stir-fry. Time: 2 minutes.

Practical

Practical guidance

Use rice that was cooled and refrigerated promptly after its original cooking; do not use cooked rice left overnight on a counter. The tacu tacu mix can be shaped from safely chilled components, but the crust is best developed just before service. Make the lomo last, only after the base has been browned. If serving several people, divide the beef into two small wok loads rather than increasing the pile in the pan. Chill leftovers in shallow containers within two hours, keep refrigerated no more than three to four days, and reheat to 74 °C. Soy sauce contains soy and usually wheat; switching brands can change both saltiness and allergens.

Control points

Cakes split during turningToo few beans were mashed or the pan was moved before the crust formed. Mash some more beans and allow a full first-side browning.
Beef releases a pool of liquidThe wok was insufficiently hot or crowded. Cook dry beef in smaller loads with a heated pan.

Nutrition per One large bean-rice cake topped with 140 g raw-weight beef

Serving sizeOne large bean-rice cake topped with 140 g raw-weight beef
Caloriesapproximately 780 kcal
Carbohydrates85 g
Protein50 g
Fat25 g
Fibre12 g
Sodiumapproximately 1500 mg

Allergens and food safety

Contains soy and generally wheat through ordinary soy sauce. Prevent cross-contact between raw beef and finished cooked beans. Meat strips must reach 63 °C and then rest three minutes; use a thermometer. Refrigerate cooked rice promptly and reheat leftovers to 74 °C.

Closing

Result: A golden rice-and-bean tacu tacu supports quick-cooked beef, tomato, onion and ají amarillo in a soy-vinegar pan sauce.
Decisive control: Too few beans were mashed or the pan was moved before the crust formed. Mash some more beans and allow a full first-side browning.