Majadito is a Bolivian recipe consisting of rice, dried meat, chopped onions, and tomatoes. The origin of the dish dates back to the pre-Columbian era in Bolivia when rice, grains, meat, plantains, and cassava formed the usual food staple among the native people.
This dish is credited as originating in the city of Santa Cruz and is considered to be one of the national dishes of Bolivia. It is commonly served in Bolivian restaurants. Traditionally, beef is used in the dish, but nowadays chicken or duck is also used in the preparation of majadito.
It is a dish that can be consumed at any time of day–for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Majadito is almost always served with fried plantains, and like many traditional Bolivian dishes, it is usually garnished with a fried egg on top.
Before electricity and refrigeration existed, meat was preserve by cutting it into very thin slices, covering and rubbing it in a lot of salt, and hanging it high up in a tree where they left it for a few days until it had completely dried up. By doing so the meat would last for weeks without rotting. That is why most recipes call for beef jerky.
In the modern Bolivia where electricity is available they no longer use beef jerky. However in some rural areas where electricity is not available they still use beef jerky. Most people now use pulled beef so they do not have to reconstitute the beef and so do we.
If you want to use the beef jerky you will need to reconstitute it by soaking it in water overnight and then boiling it for 30 minutes to get it tender enough to pull apart.
Majadito
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs beef brisket cooked and pulled
- 8 tbsps olive oil
- 1 red onion
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 tomatoes diced
- 4 tbsps parsley
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups rice
- 2 plantains yellow, not green
- 6 eggs
Instructions
- Shred your cooked beef.
- Saute onion, red bell pepper, garlic, and rice until rice is translucent.
- Add shredded beef, chicken broth, seasoning. Once it boils, lower the heat, cover, and let cook for about 25-30 minutes.
- Add diced tomato to the mix about 5 minutes before it is done.
- While rice and beef are cooking, fry the plantains and the egg so everything can be served warm at the end.
- Serve the rice in a shallow bowl, add egg, and plantains on top.
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