‘Carne en su jugo’, best translated as Meat in its juices, it is a typical dish from Guadalajara, Jalisco. People in Guadalajara spell it with K – ‘Karne en su jugo’, there are many theories about why . But given that this is my own interpretation of the recipe and out of respect for the ‘tapatio’ people I have left it with a C.
When filming for ‘This is Mexico’ in Guadalajara, we visited a popular restaurant by the name of Kamilos 333 that serves this dish. Don Fermin, the current owner and son of the founder, told us that this dish represents the different aspects of Guadalajara and amalgamates the indigenous past of the region with its modern and progressive cuisine.
The dish is prepared by slow cooking the beef in its own juices with beans, chilli, and tomato. The dish is garnished with bacon, onion, and coriander. On the side, the dish is complemented with warm corn tortillas and limes.
Carne en su jugo / Meat in its juices
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
- Saucepan
- Frying pan
Ingredients
- 400 gr whole pinto beans substitute with Borlotti or Kidney beans
- 6 slices of bacon chopped
- 1 kg beef sirloin
- 4 fresh tomatillos replace with tin tomatillos or regular tomatoes
- 2 green long chilies replace with serrano o jalapeños if available
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 beef stock cubes
- ½ white onion finely diced for garnish
- ¼ coriander bunch finely chopped for garnish
- 12 corn tortillas for garnish
- 4 limes cut in wedges for garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Allow the beans soak overnight in water and then cook in a saucepan with 2 litres of water for 2 ½ hours until soft. Make sure you cover the saucepan whilst cooking and keep the broth. If you have a pressure cooker, then just place the beans and water for 22 to 25 minutes until soft.
- In a frying pan, add the bacon until it crisps then remove and place it on a paper towel to remove excess fat.
- On the same pan and without cleaning, place the sirloin to sear, season with salt and pepper, and remove when is cooked on both sides. Then remove and cut in 2cms chunks.
- Boil the tomatillos, chilies and garlic in 1 litre of water and add the 2 beef stock cubes. Let it cook for 15 minutes and then blend all the content until you get a smooth consistency.
- Using a strainer, pour the content of the blender in a large saucepan with the beans’ broth – not the beans. Add the meat and cook for 90 minutes at low temperature.
- Remove the meat from the heat and add the beans and mix together.
- Serve the meat and its juices on a bowl, and garnish with onion, bacon, and coriander on top.
- Serve with warm tortillas and lime wedges.
Notes
- You can also serve with tostadas by placing your tortillas in the over at 120ºC for 10 minutes or until crunchy.
- As a side you can also serve the dish with totopos, radish, refried beans, grilled onions, etc.
