Peruvian food is so special in that it is the intersection of Asian and Latin cuisines – because of the Chinese and Japanese immigrants that settled in Peru, Peruvian culture takes on so many of those influences, and I am here for it! With lomo saltado, it is a dish I thoroughly enjoy – seared steak, usually skirt steak, with sauteed onions, fries, soy sauce, usually served with an egg and rice. It kind of is like all three meals of the day, but smushed together into one. I happened to buy a lot of skirt steak, potatoes, and shishito peppers, and that was where the idea to do lomo saltado came from – with the skirt steak, it is the ideal cut of meat to serve in this kind of dish. I figured if I wanted to do a meat and potatoes situation, making air-fried potatoes in the style of fries would be a clever way to use up my potatoes within having to either do fries in a fryer or a pomme puree. With the shishito peppers, I figured I could do a take on Peruvian aji verde, this bright green sauce that uses aji amarillo(yellow pepper paste) and cilantro, but using shishito peppers in lieu of the aji amarillo. Shishito peppers are funny in that they are generally a mild pepper, but every one in ten is actually spicy. So with this aji, you can get anything from a mild green sauce to a spicy one, but that kind of is the fun behind using shishitos in a recipe!

In terms of steps, the potatoes do take the most prep out of anything. We are twice cooking them, once by boiling and then again in the air fryer or oven after tossing them with some oil, spices, and herbs to give them some flavor. The vegetables, we have shallots, shishitos, and cherry tomatoes, all cooked with some cooking sake and soy sauce to give them a sweet and salty finish. The potatoes are cooked in with those to help soak up some of those seasonings. The aji is made from blanching, marinating, and blending things together, but I would say it comes together really quickly. With skirt steak, a warning: skirt steak tends to be larger on one side than the other, so portioning needs to be done to make sure that the steaks are even size. I marinate my skirt steak with koji, soy sauce, and garlic, just to really give it a nice umami and salt. Skirt steak can be a little tricky to cook and serve, but a hot pan is the best way to get a hard sear on each side. Be sure after resting the steak to slice it against the grain and on a bias, otherwise the steak will eat tough. Everything is finished with sunny side up eggs, just to add some richness and a mellow counterpoint to the bright green aji! Overall, this is a light, fresher version of a Peruvian classic, but with no sacrifice to the flavor!

Makes enough for 2 servings:
For the potatoes:
2-4 Russet potatoes, washed and cut into 1-inch by 1/8 inch rectangles
a pinch of salt
a pinch of oregano
a pinch of thyme
a pinch of paprika
2 tbsp oil

Boil the potatoes in heavily salted water for 2-3 minutes. Allow the potatoes to sit at room temperature, out of the water, for another 2 minutes before tossing gently with the salt, oregano, thyme, and oil. Transfer the potatoes to an air fryer and cook at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.

For the vegetables:
2 shallots
2oz shishito peppers
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3oz cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp cooking sake
1 tbsp soy sauce
Potatoes

Peel and cut your shallots into long strips. With the shishitos, sear them in a pan until they begin to blister before you slice them up into long strips as well. In a pan, start by heating up some oil and sweating down the shallots and garlic on medium-low heat – the shallots should become translucent. To the pan, add the tomatoes, cut side down, allowing them to sear for 2-3 minutes on medium heat before flipping them over. Add to the pan the cooking sake first, then the soy sauce, allowing the liquid to cook down before adding in the potatoes and the shishito peppers to finish.

For the aji:
4 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp vinegar or lime juice
3 tbsp oil
a pinch of salt
1oz cilantro
2oz shishito peppers
2oz kewpie mayonnaise

In a bowl, add finely minced garlic, vinegar/lemon juice, oil, and salt, stirring together until combined. Let that mixture sit for at least 10 minutes. Blanch your cilantro in boiling water for 10 seconds and then shock it in ice water. In a pan, sear the shishito peppers until the exterior is charred and the shishitos begin to blister. Transfer everything(cilantro, garlic, shishitos, and kewpie) into a food processor or blender and puree until combined into a smooth, creamy sauce.

For the steak:
16oz skirt steak, portioned into 2 pieces
1oz shio koji
1oz soy sauce
2 cloves minced garlic
oil

In a bowl, coat the steak with the other ingredients, sans oil, and allow that to marinate for at least 1 hour. Heat up a nonstick pan with a light layer of oil, and then sear the steak on each side for roughly 2 minutes – this can vary depending on the thickness of your steak, but we generally want anywhere between rare to medium rare for skirt steak. Allow the steak to rest for 5 minutes before slicing on a bias against the grain.

For garnish:
2 eggs
a pinch of salt
oil

In a nonstick pan with a light layer of oil, cook the eggs on one side on medium-low heat, covered, for 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle salt on top of each egg to finish.