Carne en Polvo (powdered beef)

The national dish of Colombia is composed by beans, white rice, chicharrones, carne en polvo, fried chorizo, sweet plantain , a fried egg, and a slice of avocado. This is the recipe for the carne en polvo, which can be served as a side dish as well or simply with steamed white rice.

Ingredients for 6 servings

1 pound beef skirt or hip steak
2 cloves garlic
1 whole onion halved
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt

Sofrito
1/2 cup green bell pepper finely minced
1/2 cup minced tomato
1/2 cup minced green onion
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric or color (adobo Goya, triguisar)
salt and pepper to taste

In a pressure cooker add the meat cut in cubes, water to cover, the onion, garlic, salt and the Worcestershire sauce and cook for 30 minutes. The meat must be tender.

Remove from the liquid (it can be saved as beef stock after straining) and let cool. Place the meat in a food processor and process for 2 minutes to a very fine powder like consistency. Set aside.

Make the sofrito, placing the olive oil in a big saute pan, over medium heat. Add the green onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add the green pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the diced tomato, tomato paste, cumin, turmeric, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes until almost all liquid has evaporated.

Stir in the powdered beef and mix very well until the sofrito and the meat has incorporated. It must be a little dry. Add more salt if needed.
Serve over white rice and beans.