Ropa Vieja/ Carne Desmechada (Cuban/Colombian Shredded Beef) | Kenji's Cooking Show

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Daniel Gritzer has a good ropa vieja recipe on Serious Eats, here: https://www.seriouseats.com/ropa-vieja-cuban-latin-american-beef-stew-recipe

Here is a carne desmechada recipe from My Colombian Recipes, which is a great Colombian recipe site: https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/shredded-meat-carne-desmechada/

28 Replies to “Ropa Vieja/ Carne Desmechada (Cuban/Colombian Shredded Beef) | Kenji's Cooking Show”

  1. one i reason i think "the next day" tastes better might be because many stews are not cooked long enough, and reheating it adds to the overall cooking time. at least thats what i thought so far….no science. just thought

  2. need a note in the description about which knife is being used. always impressed by your cool kitchen knifes

  3. Right at the end I was thinking 'what about the doggos?' just when you called em…

  4. Thanks for introducing us to another interesting dish, I've never heard of Kenji. Appreciate the education. Looks fantastic

  5. About stews being better the next day. I think this often true, but for a totally different reason: many people undercook stews, so reheating and adding another 10-30minutes of cooking makes it better. The meat will be more tender and the sauce thicker.

    No idea if there is any truth to this, but I feel like this is often the case.

  6. Hey Kenji, I'm wondering about the sweating of the veg in the beginning of a stewed dish like this. It's something I've always done and always see in cooking, but in a dish that remains on heat for a long period of time, does that initial sweat make a difference in the overall flavor or texture of the dish in the end? Thanks!

  7. castelvetrano is the only olive I can stand, it's incredibly mild & easy to snack, the way I imagined olives would taste before experiencing the salty, unpleasantly acidic reality

  8. I was wondering where your sous-chef mascot doggos were at – glad they managed to sneak a snack before film ran out 🙂

  9. When you first add vegetables to a hot pan, does it matter whether they get seasoned before or after they get tossed around in the fat?

  10. It's interesting that you mention spicy foods (and vinegary foods) tasting milder the next day. My experience with spicy foods has been the opposite… as though more of the capsaicin has leeched from the spicy ingredients.

  11. I'm really glad you talk about the science of what's going on in cooking! It's super important that people actually UNDERSTAND how to cook and not just blindly follow recipes. It also helps to stop the spread of misinformation! Thanks Kenji for all you do!

  12. To the people who are relatively new or don't know who Kenji is, he's a very experienced food scientist. So when he says testing, he means scientifically testing, with a sample size of tasters, etc. I hate one day old stew is what I'm saying and I'm validated by Kenji 😛

  13. I think your theory about oven vs stove is flawed. The temperature of that stew will not get above 100°C (212° F) unless the liquid evaporates completely or you pressurize the pot, and that's the same for both stove and oven. If there's a difference between cocking it in the oven vs stove it's not this….

  14. @Kenji- When and where in your cooking do you prefer the different mortar and pestle styles?

  15. Just broke up with my Cuban girlfriend… never got the family recipe. Hopefully this is close 😂😂

  16. The things taste better the next day is a fact, you should probably know that instead of just repeating the sudo science of memory/desensitized thing you just said. Flavor, fat, acid and even salt has an effect on things over time…also…your moms a Japanese style mortar & pestle. Love how you made this though 10/10

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