Ropa Vieja

I grew up in a Cuban household and ate delicious ropa vieja on a regular basis. My mom never added olives and raisins to ropa vieja, that was reserved for picadillo. I've seen this before in different recipes and I don't know if they are an American melding of the two dishes of if my mother's recipe was just more straightforward.

In our Cuban household we enjoyed two meals from the one cut of meat. My mom would boil the beef first so that it could be shredded. The stock would later be used for soup. For Ropa Vieja she would sauté onions, peppers, couple of mashed garlic cloves and then add a can of tomato sauce. Salt, bay leaf, dry white wine or vinegar would then be added. The shredded beef would be added and simmered for about 20 minutes. Never raisens, capers, olives, or chicken stock. She garnished with pimentos.

I and four others who I served it to were underwhelmed by this dish. It was a bit sweet and lacking much complexity for a dish of this nature. Frankly, we would have been better off just marinating the flank steaks or covering the, with a dry rub, grilling them and then serving it with the peppers and onions, black beans and maybe a pico de gallo. Again, not bad, but not the best use of these ingredients and time.

Hi, Maria: As the daughter of a Cuban mother, I spent time in my childhood in Havana with my Cuban grandparents. This is an American take on "Ropa Vieja". The classic recipe does not have olives and raisins, as you say.

Being a Cuban of a certain age I have been eating Ropa Vieja all my life. Like other Cuban commenters I must point out that this Cuban standard does not include olives, raisins or capers. Those ingredients are part of Picadillo, another Cuban standard recipe. BTW plenty of minced garlic should be included with the sautéed onions and peppers. I have seen this mistake before. Just offering my comment for clarification.

Lopez-Alt was writing about using what's on-hand and riffing on established recipes to make a satisfying meal for essential workers. With the same idea in mind, home cooks in Cuba or Puerto Rico probably don't tie themselves in knots with worries about authenticity. I doubt the food police show up at the door when Senora puts dinner on the table for the family.

I was disappointed by this; it was too sweet for my liking as a beef dish (it borders on "dessert" sweetness). Also, considering how long it simmers, cheaper cuts of beef should be used. If I made it again I would cut out the raisins entirely, and go with whatever cut of beef was on sale at the market that day.

I’m a Cuban born and I’ve never heard of adding raisins and olives to ropa vieja. These were reserved for the Picadillo . Also I’ve never heard of using the flank raw for this dish. Usually the flank steak is boiled with an onion and after it’s cooked and cooled it is shredded. Starting a Sofrito with onions, peppers and garlic then add the shredded beef until it is well mixed with the onions, etc. add the tomato sauce, wine, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano and bay leaves and cook for 1/2 hour.

So a lot of varying opinions on this recipe. Personally found it to be great. Fixed a double batch of this for Christmas to go meals for the family (Covid style meal). It cooked for about 5 hours in a cast iron dutch oven in the oven at 250 degrees. Used flank steak and was incredibly tender and very flavorful. Used the braised peppers and onions recipe, a must. Also refrigerated it for 4 days. Dead on about improving taste and texture as mentioned in description. No raisins. Thanks for this.

Just cooked and devoured. This dish is amazing. My wife’s favorite special at our neighborhood taco shop. Nuvotaco is awesome, but she admitted this recipe is better!! Thank you Kenji! You continue to inspire me and make me look good!

I nearly didn’t follow the link to the Braised Peppers & Onions RECIPE thinking it would only be peppers and onions! Thankfully I did not skip over it because this is where all the seasonings are for Ropa Vieja! This makes the difference between bland and yummy! This is also a great way to cook a turkey leg.

Made a few alterations - now it's one of our favorite comfort foods. Used a 2.5 to 3 pound bone-in pork shoulder (easy find at Whole Foods, about $12). Toasted the cumin, then cooked the onion/pepper ingredients in the same dutch oven the meat was browned in. Returned the pork to the dutch oven with all other ingredients, covered and simmered for 3 hours, turning the meat once. Pork falls off the bone it's so tender. Served with both braised greens and rice. Not traditional but it's delicious!

My husband is Cuban olives and raisins do not belong in ropa vieja let alone capers. The recipe seems to have forgotten cumin, paprika and Oregano.

This was a delightful twist on traditional ropa vieja. I was short on time so I put everything in the Instant Pot for 30 minutes (high pressure) after searing the beef and preparing the peppers. It was delicious! Highly recommend.

In all the years I've eaten ropa vieja, I've NEVER seen anyone make it with raisins!!! I swear, it's like once mainstream outlets get a hold of something and want to "make it palatable for the masses" you guys think raisins is the secret ingredient to everything. People, ropa vieja does not have raisins in it, at least when the people within the cultures that created that recipe make it. If you want to cook raisins with your savory meat, whatever, but don't pass it off as ropa vieja.