Currently I am trying to fill the void in my heart where solo travel and wanderlust once thrived with cooking a new cultural dish once a week. Shockingly I’ve never been the person who feels the sting of loneliness when they are alone. People have always confused me, and at one point in my life I stopped trying to fit in and just did my own thing. That’s when I started to travel by myself and found peace in solitude. Now, in the midst of this pandemic and no end in sight, I have been missing my adventures so much I can feel a part of me missing. I thought to myself what are my favorite things to do when I travel? History. Pubs. Museums. Art. But, first and foremost I want to try the local cuisine! This is where living alone can seem daunting. Look in any cookbook and the servings are always 4-8! If you’re like me, and you don’t want to eat leftovers more than twice, this is way too much food! I am determined to take all these cultural dishes and manufacture them to a max of two servings. My first successful recipe is Lomo Saltado, or Peruvian Beef Stir Fry, to help me escape to South America for the evening. Other than shrinking the recipe, I swapped out French fries for roasted potato wedges, I didn’t serve rice because I find it to be too much food, and I cut the beef into cubes instead of slices. If you fancy a solo trip to Peru please enjoy my recipe for Lomo Saltado for one!

Ingredients
8oz Filet Mignon Cut In To 1in Cubes
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Red Wine Vinegar
2 Teaspoons Aji Amarillo Paste
1/2 Teaspoon Cornstarch
2 Garlic Cloves Chopped
1 Small Red Onion or 1/2 Large Red Onion Cut Into Thick Slices
2 Roma Tomatoes Quartered and Deseeded
2 Green Onions Cut in to 1/2in Pieces
1 Tablespoon Avocado Oil
Cilantro For Garnish
1 Large Yukon Gold Potato
1 Tablespoon Avocado Oil
Salt and Pepper To Season

Prepare your sauce first. In a small bowl combine soy sauce, oyster sauce, red wine vinegar, and aji amarillo paste. Give a quick stir and then stir in the cornstarch to create a slurry. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Bring a pot of water to a boil and throw your potato in. Let it boil for 5 minutes, just enough to soften but not cook thoroughly. After 5 minutes remove the potato and cut into thick wedges. Toss wedges in avocado oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes flipping them over half way through.

Now that your potatoes are in the oven, pour avocado into a frying pan and heat on high. Once oil is hot, it should bubble if you flick some water in the pan, brown your filet mignon cubes for 1 minute on each side for medium rare or 2 minutes for medium well. Remove from the pan and place on a plate lined with a paper towel. Return the pan to the burner and reduce the heat to medium. Toss in red onion and quickly toss in the remaining oil. Follow up with the garlic and green onions. Toss until the garlic becomes fragrant and green onions have softened. About 2 minutes. Add your tomato wedges and after a quick toss add sauce. Once the sauce has thickened, should take less than a minute, add your beef back into the pan and toss till it’s coated in the sauce. Remove potatoes from the oven, add them to the pan, and toss until coated in the sauce.

To plate, simply divide in to two servings, one for now and one for later. Once half is in a bowl garnish with as much cilantro as you like and enjoy!

Notes
Aji Amarillo Paste is fairly easy to find in the grocery store or in a Mexican grocery store. If you are able to find them fresh you can sauté them with the onions instead of adding the paste to the sauce. I used filet mignon for 2 reasons. One, because it’s the easiest cut to use for small portions. Two, since I enjoy my meat medium rare, it’s the best for texture. You can use any cut you wish to use, just keep it around 8oz.