Sensationally Tasty (and Easy) Beef Trinchado

How I got around to making this beef trinchado is actually an interesting story, but I am SO glad I did! It was quite daunting at first, because we have some trinchado aficionados around. I kept saying I’m going to “try” to make trinchado. Like one of my regular experiments!

The great news is, it turned out so much better than I expected!

Worcestershire Sauce

I had been doing a couple of exciting cooking classes with Nestlé. One of the ingredients we had to use was Maggi Lazenby Worcestershire sauce. Let me impart a lesson in pronunciation while I’m at it…

We may have all grown up with “Woester sauce”, but this (as I’m now very well aware) is incorrect. The correct way to say it is actually “woo-stir-shy-er”, so you must actually say “Woester” plus the “shire” bit. Does it taste any different when you use it’s real name? No. It’s just as good as ever but you, my dear cook, are now more educated and fancy!

The correct way to say it is actually “woo-stir-shy-er”, so you must actually say the “shire” bit.

How the Trinchado Came About

I arrived home with a big bag full of goodies from Nestlé and when SuperDad laid eyes on the Worcestershire sauce, he immediately placed his order for trinchado. Actually, we always have some of the sauce in the cupboard but I suppose it suddenly rang a bell in his mind.

As MammaChef does, I started the search for an excellent and easy recipe to follow. I can tell you another interesting fact that I learned from this little adventure. As well known as trinchado is in South Africa as a Portuguese dish, you actually won’t find it in Portugal. It’s a totally South African Portuguese thing! Which I think is quite cool…

It does contain quite a bit of chili, so what I did was add a bit less upfront and then each guest could add their own. For the boys I actually set aside some of the cooked meat and only gave them a tiny bit of sauce to taste. Rather that than have them refuse to eat an entire meal. The meat was also nice and tender, so they enjoyed it.

This goes right up there with my favourite recipes! Good for any weather and sure to leave your guests with satisfied smiles.

Print

Easy Portuguese Beef Trinchado

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Keyword beef recipes, Family friendly, spicy

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1,5 kg cubed beef sirloin or similar
• 2 white onions chopped
• 3 small red chili peppers chopped (retain seeds)
• 3-4 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp corn flour Maizena
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 75 g tomato paste
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Combine Worcester sauce and soy sauce and marinade the beef cubes in the mixture for 30 minutes to an hour. This will tenderise the meat. Drain marinade well into a separate bowl before cooking the beef.

2. In a large pan, heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil over medium high heat. When the butter is sizzling, add about a quarter of the beef cubes (not letting them touch) and brown well, about 3-4 minutes. Brown the meat in batches, adding 1 tbsp butter and olive oil each inbetween the batches. Once a batch is done, set it aside in a dish to rest.

3. Once all the meat has browned, reduce heat and add onion, chili with seeds and cook for about 5 minutes until soft.

4. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Sprinkle over the corn flour and stir continuously for about 2 minutes.

5. Add the stock, balsamic vinegar, red wine and bay leaves. Stir until the sauce thickens and simmer for about 10 minutes.

6. Stir in the tomato paste and tomato sauce, then add in the beef cubes and their juices and simmer gently for a further 10 minutes.

7. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with fresh Portuguese bread rolls.