Bistec Encebollado

Lately, I’ve become a little obsessed with learning how to cook authentic Mexican food. I have several recipes from the mother of the family I lived with while I was in Guadalajara, but oddly enough, they aren’t quite what I’m looking for right now. I want the everyday food. The meals people actually make on a regular Tuesday night. What’s on the table when nobody is trying to impress anybody? What do families in Mexico eat day after day?

Instagram has decided to help me answer that question because my feed is now packed with Mexican home cooking. And I am absolutely here for it.

This recipe for Bistec Encebollado popped up recently, and the ingredient list immediately caught my attention. One ingredient in particular: Goya Mojo. I had never heard of it, much less cooked with it. Naturally, I had to investigate. When I discovered my local grocery store actually carried it, well…that pretty much settled it. I was making this recipe.

But then I read that bistec encebollado is often served on bolillos, those wonderful little Mexican bread rolls. And suddenly this dinner became personal.

When I lived in Guadalajara, I absolutely fell in love with Mexican bakeries. A couple of times a week I was sent to the local panadería for fresh bread. And when I say I was "sent," I should clarify that I was more than happy to volunteer for the job. There is something about walking into a Mexican bakery and seeing all that freshly baked bread that makes it very difficult to leave with only what you went in for.

I’ve never really been able to find that same kind of bread here in Washington. Until now.

There’s a little family-owned panadería only about two miles from my house (Mariana's Panaderia & Bakery), and I decided to stop in just to see what they had. And there, sitting right on the counter, was a PILE of bolillos. A PILE.

And you know what I love about seeing fresh bread piled up on a counter with absolutely no covering? It tells me everything I need to know. Those bolillos are fresh, they're meant to be eaten, and they probably aren't going to make it to tomorrow.

I attempted to order in my very questionable Spanish. The young man behind the counter responded in perfect English, which I appreciated while also slightly defeating the purpose of my Spanish practice. He smiled, asked how many bolillos I wanted, and I happily placed my order.

Then I turned around and saw them. Conchas. Mexican sweet bread. Well, obviously I needed one of those too.

I left that bakery like I had just won the lottery. I was practically floating all the way home and spent the rest of the afternoon looking forward to dinner.

This dinner was AMAZING. The combination of the adobo seasoning, Sazón and Mojo was exactly what I was hoping for. The flavors were bold and familiar in a way that immediately transported me back to Guadalajara.

This is exactly the kind of Mexican cooking I’ve been searching for—the everyday, home-style food that feels completely different from what many of us think of when we hear "Mexican food" here in the U.S.

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love Americanized Mexican food. I will happily eat tacos, burritos, enchiladas and all the rest of it. But discovering these everyday Mexican dishes has reminded me just how much more there is to Mexican cooking.

And finding a recipe that gave me even a little taste of my Guadalajara days? Yeah. That made my day.

Bistec Encebollado

Recipe from Latina Mom Meals

Serves 4

• ¼ cup of vegetable oil
• 8 - thin sliced tip steaks
• 1-2 tablespoons of adobo
• 2 tablespoons of Goya Sazon Complete
• 3 tablespoons of Sofrito
• ¼ cup of Goya mojo
• 2 yellow onions thinly sliced

In a large bowl, mix together everything except for the oil.

In a large pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add in two steaks and a quarter of the sliced onions. Cook steak 3-4 minutes per side. Adding in a tablespoon of extra mojo if dry. Stir onions as needed to caramelize them. Remove onions and steak from pan once steak arrives to desired level of done.

Repeat process with the remaining steak and onions.

Serve immediately.