Tallarin Saltado

I have been crazy for Peruvian food ever since my mom and I hit up a Peruvian restaurant for an extra credit project for Spanish class.  When I went off to college I was thrilled to find that there was a fabulous Peruvian restaurant, Inka Heritage, right off of campus.  Al and I spent many Valentine's days, anniversaries, and date nights gorging on saltados.  When I saw the caught the word saltado out of the corner of my eye in my latest cookbook, I made sure to check the recipe out. 

I'm so glad that I did, every other recipe that we have tried out to this point has been lacking.  Usually we have had our saltados served over fries, but using pasta instead was a fun way to spice it up.  Peruvian food is a fun fusion between Latin and Asian flavors, which work so well together.  This recipe is on my official dinner roster, and I'm looking forward to trying out some new Peruvian dishes as well.

Recipe from The Sunset Cookbook- I checked this book out from the library, looked through the recipes, and was so impressed by the them that I ordered it without making any of them.  Best impulse decision ever.

• Pasta- I used whole wheat spaghetti
• 1 1/2 lbs sirloin steak- cut into 1 inch cubes or strips
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion- sliced into wedges
• 1+ tbsp cilantro
• 1/2-1 tbsp sriracha sauce (this really makes the dish)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 medium tomatoes- sliced into wedges and then halved
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• salt

Heat a large pot of water until boiling and cook pasta as directed. 

Strain the pasta and set aside.

Heat up a few tbsp of olive oil in a wok over medium heat

Cook the meat until it is browned, then cook for 3 more minutes- stir as needed

Remove the meat, but leave any leftover oil in the pan.

Cook the onion until softened

Add the cilantro, sriracha sauce, soy sauce and cook for an additional minute

Add in the tomato and cook until it starts to soften just a little bit- probably around 30 seconds

Add in the pepper

Return the meat back to the pot along with the pasta

Stir everything together and cook until the pasta and meat are reheated if necessary

Add salt to taste