Lomo a lo pobre or bistec a lo pobre is a popular choice of meal throughout all parts of South America, especially in Chile and Peru. The English translation of this dish is “poor man’s steak”, and yet the portion of this dish is far from poor.
This dish will generally appear in the menu of some local restaurants and occasionally found in restaurants located in tourist spots across Chile and Peru. You may also find the street food version of it known as arroz a la cubana in the local market food stands.
If you order a lomo a lo pobre at ten different restaurants in Chile or Peru, you might get ten different versions of it in slightly different variations. Despite that, the three main elements of the dish, which include steak, potato and eggs, will still be covered.
What is A Lomo A Lo Pobre (Poor Man’s Steak)?
Lomo a lo pobre is a satisfying meal consisting of steak, fried potatoes, fried onions and fried eggs. A huge cut of beef tenderloin steak covered in garlic is cooked, then with white potatoes and onions on the side, the steak is topped with fried eggs with runny yolks. The dish is normally served with a bowl of rice and salad.
By using all these humble ingredients, the mixture of the flavours and the resulting texture is anything but mediocre. The vast portion might also for too big for two people to eat — the fantastic taste and easiness to prepare to make this dish widely known and favoured by many.
This dish has high levels of fat and not suitable for people with diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol. One can enrich this dish and add more nutritional values to it by including tomatoes and lettuce to the recipe.
History of Lomo A Lo Pobre
The term “a lo pobre” originates back to the nineteenth century, when common Peruvian folk eating this dish with large portion and heavy price, neglecting their economic capabilities. Other than that, this saying might come from the idea that poorer residents in Peru eat meat together with carbohydrates and egg while individuals in higher classes will eat meat alone with vegetables.
However, lomo a lo pobre is both consumed in lower and upper-class restaurants nowadays. Therefore, there is no longer any negative connotation linked to this dish anymore.
Types of Lomo A Lo Pobre
Other than adding fried onions to the dish like how it is served in Chile, Peruvians used rice and fried plantains in their version of lomo a lo pobre. This dish is usually taken as lunch or dinner, unlike steak and eggs which are typically eaten as breakfast.
Nowadays, the term “a lo pobre” in Lima, Peru today may refer simply to the addition of a fried egg in a dish. Other than steak, grilled chicken breast is used in a recipe called pechuga a lo pobre.
Rice is added with a fried egg, a dish called arroz chaufa. Other than that, it is also used in lomo saltado, salchipapas or even in hamburgers.
Where to Find Lomo A Lo Pobre in Malaysia
Lomo a lo pobre can be found in most Peruvian or Chilean restaurants in Malaysia.
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