Seco de Alpaca Peruvian recipe adapted for MES.

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moikel

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Jul 26, 2011
3,198
218
Sydney &Greenwell Point Australia
Got to clear these freezers so that big bit of Alpaca  has got to step up to the plate.

This is a traditional recipe from the Morena restaurant here in Sydney.Instead of stewing it Im going to keep it whole marinate it in stew ingredients,then cook it over a pan of the marinade & baste it.

 So in the marinade is going garlic,onions ,cilantro ,parsley,oregano,juice of 4x lime 4x lemon beef stock,beer.I bought some Argentinian beer the other day.Recipe says it must be lager.Olive oil,a Peruvian chilli.bay leaf.gbp.Im going to leave that overnight put it in MES Sunday afternoon maybe 4hours cook time. Photo when I  get meat defrosted.
 
OK  thats the cut,its the whole outside if that makes sense.I used the round in the first innings.I can see what I  would call silverside secondary muscle to the topside if this was beef. I didnt seperate them.I added coriander seed & some smoked salt spice mix I bought at food expo.Thats alpaca stock in the bottle,I had some in freezer +some chicken stock.

The recipe was for shoulder cut up into 2x2 inch bits

I have leg whole.I  have deviated a bit from recipe but I  figure I  can wing it.Might need a little sugar with all that citrus. Beer is very hoppy yeasty style which is apparently the way they like it in that part of world.I trimmed meat a bit remembering I  broke this down from a 6-7kg leg originally. Looks like lamb to me,really big lamb 
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 but still lamb.

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This one sounds like a winner as well...JJ
 
I just need to chart a course through it. Its going to be about time & temperature Chef JJ.The rest of recipe is old school the trick is the adaption from stew to MES.
 
OK  we are rolling.It was in the marinade 16 hours. Gone in at 100c over mesquite.Do they have mesquite in Peru? Pan of marinade under it,boiling rest of marinade now so I can get a grip on flavours then top up pan. Its a 3kg bit of meat no bone pretty dense 6 hours will make it 7pm my time for sunday dinner.
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Will you never quit? 

I am still mulling over the goat smoke and then you bring this?

I guess if you are buying the beer, I can be patient.

Good luck and good smoking.
 
6 hours in MES last 2 at max temp. Pan juices tasty,little sharp so gave it a bit of sugar.Holding it in oven while I  get sides done. I dont care for the beer that much bit to hoppy for me but in this dish it was a knockout..Citrus ,herbs ,garlic all fit together nicely.I would make the stew based on that hit out with other meats like lamb or goat.I will get it on the plate shortly not that there s any rush all you northern hemisphere types are asleep.
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This was fantastic better than the previous rolled round. Marinade /sauce just spot on.Its like a giant leg of lamb an Aussie staple but different.I carved it the same way as lamb. It was soft & tender the pan of marinade under the meat  in the MES had some lovely flavours,just reduced it a bit after adding more of the herbs ,onions from pot of extra that I boiled off.Have a whole lot left over so I  will be eating it all week. It was as tender as the youngest lamb you can buy here,really special meal.I drank a  Bleasdale wines Malbec from Langhorne Creek South Australia. Malbec a very popular wine in South America,right choice. If I  wasnt so full I would have another plate.Should have ditched sweet potato so I  could fit more Alpaca in. Should have skipped lunch,man that was good.
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This how we would carve leg of lamb here ,this was just absolutly  superb. I will be at the farm gate on the way to weekender for Easter swapping bacon/sardines/bottarga for some other cuts. I have put rest ,lots of it, uncut into boiled off marinade. You could slice this for sandwiches like it was roast beef.The recipe is from a Peruvian chef I added chilli,coriander seed ,smoked spice mix,sugar.
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On great thing about this site is it always has "first" for me. I did not know you could eat Alpaca i thought they just made shoe strings and sweaters from their fur.....Anyway looks great and makes me hungry.
 
On great thing about this site is it always has "first" for me. I did not know you could eat Alpaca i thought they just made shoe strings and sweaters from their fur.....Anyway looks great and makes me hungry.
I feel the same way when I  see all the venison that turns up on the site. And all that lovely wild salmon. We have deer that were imported from Europe but a lot of it is poor eating. Elk,moose are a complete mystery to me. A lot of the hunting for the table tricky because of heat & distance,but kangaroo in the supermarkets everywhere.
 
 
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Now that hunk of meat looks awesome and I bet it quite tastie too.
 
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