TRADITIONAL LOCRO FOR MAY 25TH
INGREDIENTS
For 20 servings:
– 90 cubic centimeters Corn Oil
– 250 grams Salted Bacon
– 100 grams Flank Steak
– 150 grams Pork Trotters
– 2 Pork Chorizos
– 2 Red Chorizos
– 600 grams White Corn
– 200 grams Beans
– 1 Bunch of Leeks
– 400 grams Pumpkin (anco)
– 500 cubic centimeters Vegetable Broth
– 350 grams Tripe
– 60 grams Sweet Paprika
– 25 grams Cumin
– 20 grams Fine Salt
– 20 grams Ground White Pepper
– 1 Bunch of Spring Onions
– 20 grams Sweet Paprika
– 30 grams Crushed Spicy Chili
– 70 cubic centimeters Cold Water
STEP BY STEP
First, prepare your Kamado Argentino to use it properly with a wok. Load 2.5 kg of charcoal, light it up, and let it work with the bottom air intake fully open.
Once you have a good flame, you can adjust it halfway since you will work with the lid open almost all the time.
Place the wok support in the pot or the container that suits you best.
1. In a large pot with corn oil, start cooking and browning the meats over medium heat. Add the bacon, which will start releasing its fat and become golden and crispy after a few minutes. Then add the flank steak cut into even cubes, the pork trotters, the meat from the pork chorizo, and the red chorizo sliced into rounds. Cook over moderate heat for at least 15 minutes and season with salt and pepper carefully.
2. Now start integrating the white corn and the beans soaked for 8 hours (during these hours, the water should be changed at least three times). Then add the white corn kernels and the pallares beans, continue cooking and stirring for about 5 more minutes.
3. Add the vegetables. First, the leeks and about 2 minutes later, the pumpkin cubes. Season again discreetly.
To continue stewing, add the broth and later the tripe, previously boiled and then cut into thin strips. Season with sweet paprika and ground cumin. Do not add more salt since the broths we usually use contain a good amount of saltiness. Check the seasoning.
5. The cooking of the locro can take between 2 and 3 hours over low heat. If the liquid evaporates too much, you can add more water, preferably hot, to not lower the cooking temperature. It is also important to skim off any foam that forms on the surface of the preparation from time to time.
6. The texture and color of the stew will be given by the pumpkin, which with such long cooking time will break down and provide the characteristic consistency of this classic dish. Also, the somewhat dense texture will be given by the starch found in the corn and beans. Ultimately, the preparation should have a bound or moderately thick consistency. Beyond the indicated time, the locro will be ready when the pumpkin, corn, and beans are completely tender, and the meats are also tender.
7. To accompany the locro, make a typical sauce from regional cuisine called “Grasita Colorada.” It consists of sautéing spring onions in corn oil, seasoned with sweet paprika and spicy chili, to which cold water is added immediately off the heat. This will cause the spring onions to settle, and the flavored, colored, and spicy oil will rise to the surface, which is what will be recovered and used to season the locro.