Lomito árabe

Ingredients

Beef

• 600 gbeef sirloin or rump
• sliced thin
• juice of 2 lemons
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 teaspoonground cumin
• 1 teaspoonpaprika
• 2 tablespoonsoil
• salt and black pepper

The bread

• 4flatbreads
• pan árabe or pita
• warmed

The filling

• 2onions, sliced thin
• 2tomatoes, sliced
• lettuce, shredded
• a handful of parsley

Sauces

• mayonnaise
• ketchup
• or a garlic mayonnaise
• hot sauce
• or tahina sauce

Directions

1. Freeze the beef briefly before slicing. Half an hour in the freezer firms it. Cut across the grain rather than along it. Put the beef in the freezer for thirty minutes. Slice it as thinly as you can. Cut across the grain throughout. Mix the lemon juice and crushed garlic. Add the cumin, paprika and oil. Season it with salt and black pepper.
2. Toss the beef slices through it. Give it about thirty minutes only. Slice the onions as thinly as you can. Slice the tomatoes into rounds. Shred all the lettuce up finely. Chop all the parsley up roughly. Soak sliced onion in cold water. Give it about ten minutes to soak. Drain it thoroughly afterwards. Cold water draws out the harshest compounds.
3. Heat a wide heavy pan or a griddle. Get it genuinely very hot indeed. Add the beef in a single layer. Do not crowd the pan at any point. Let it sear for about a minute. Turn it and give it another minute.
4. Work in batches with plenty of space. Add sliced onion to the pan with the meat. Let it soften and colour at the edges. Onion takes longer than thin beef. Start the onion first if you cook them together. Judging the meat takes a look.
5. Warm the flatbreads through briefly. Use a dry pan or the hot grill. Give them about thirty seconds a side. Warm bread is pliable and folds. Cold bread cracks and splits open. Lay a warm flatbread out flat.
6. Spread sauce over the middle of it. Sauce on the bread first stops it drying. Spread it in a line rather than all over. Lay the hot beef along the middle. Add the cooked and the raw onion. Add tomato slices over the top of that. Add shredded lettuce and parsley. Hot meat directly on lettuce wilts it.
7. Add more mayonnaise over the filling. Add ketchup or hot sauce as well. Fold the bottom edge up over the filling. Roll it up firmly from the bottom. Folding the bottom stops it leaking. Wrap the bottom half in paper. Serving it is done immediately and hot. Make it and eat it straight away.

Technique

• Levantine people migrated to South America from the late nineteenth century, many from what is now Lebanon and Syria, and were often called turcos because they travelled on Ottoman passports rather than because they were Turkish; their food entered local cooking, giving pan árabe and dishes like this one.
• This is a Paraguayan street food rather than a transplanted Levantine dish: it uses Levantine bread and technique but the fillings are local, and the generous mayonnaise and ketchup are a South American street food habit rather than a Levantine practice.
• Freeze the beef for half an hour before slicing, since firm meat slices far more thinly, and cut across the grain to shorten the fibres; marinate it half an hour to an hour but never overnight, since lemon cures thin slices and makes the texture mealy.

Substitutions

• Pita stands in for pan árabe, warmed briefly so it folds without cracking.
• Tahina sauce is used in place of mayonnaise at some stands.

Variations

• Some stands grill the onion with the meat and others add it raw for crunch.
• The sauces vary, with mayonnaise, ketchup, garlic mayonnaise and hot sauce all used.
• It is sold from street stands in Asunción into the small hours.

History

Brought by Levantine immigrants and sold from Asunción street stands late into the night.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lomito árabe?

Lomito árabe is a street food from Paraguay: grilled beef, onion and salad rolled in flatbread with sauces. Brought by Levantine immigrants and sold from Asunción street stands late into the night.

How long does Lomito árabe take to make?

Lomito árabe takes 30 minutes plus marinating of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Lomito árabe?

Yes, within limits. Pita stands in for pan árabe, warmed briefly so it folds without cracking. Tahina sauce is used in place of mayonnaise at some stands.

What is the most important thing to get right in Lomito árabe?

Freeze the beef briefly before slicing. Half an hour in the freezer firms it. Cut across the grain rather than along it. Put the beef in the freezer for thirty minutes. Slice it as thinly as you can. Cut across the grain throughout. Mix the lemon juice and crushed garlic. Add the cumin, paprika and oil. Season it with salt and black pepper.