Milanesa de Res – AKA: Yes, You CAN Use That Cheap, Thin Cut!
I was formally introduced to Milanesa working in an Italian bistro. Ours was pork and was one of our top sellers. Growing up in San Francisco, I already knew that it was a popular dish in certain Latin American countries, and not just it’s country of origin, but I was never really that interested in the dish. I always thought that the traditional meat of choice, beef top round, was a cheap, thin cut that was super tough. I’d rather have a New York Strip or Ribeye, thank you very much.
Well, that was then, and this is now! Working in that Italian restaurant, it helped me realize that there are many tricks to making even less desirable cuts of meat…well…quite desirable. It made me pay more attention to the more traditionally beef based Milanesa I had seen around all my life.
The Milanesa served around here in Latin American restaurants, usually Mexican, often come with a very simple lettuce and tomato salad and beans. I eat a lot of salad, but for this recipe, I feel like something more substantial, so we’re going with Mexican Rice instead. Feel free to go the salad route, but just know that I’ll be quietly judging from afar. I’ll be thinking, man, this person is really lazy and didn’t want to follow this recipe as it was intended. I’ll remember that.
With a little bit of effort, a Milanesa is a very fun and tasty meal for all folks, from kids to even snooty adults, like myself. Everything has its place, and cuts like top round, belong in a Milanesa.
Servings: 2 (or 4 if you double the recipe)…And for once, 2 (or 4) Me’s actually sounds about right too!
Milanesa:
- 2 Top Round Beef cuts (3/4 lbs.), thinly sliced
- 2 Eggs (3 is enough if you double the recipe)
- 1 cup Bread Crumbs
- 6 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 2 tsp. Cumin
- 2 tsp. Oregano, dried
- 2 tsp. Paprika
- 1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
- Kosher Salt
- Vegetable Oil for Frying
Mexican Rice:
- 1 cup White Long Grain Rice
- 2.25 cups Water
- 2 tsp. Chicken Better Than Bouillon
- 1/2 large Yellow Onion, diced
- 1 (or 2!) Jalapeno or Serrano Peppers, minced
- 1/4 cup Tomato Sauce
- 1 tsp. Cumin
- 2 Whole Bay Leaves
- 1/8 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
- 1 Lime or Lime Juice
1.) We’re going to start with the rice. It’s best to start here because rice can sit for a while, where the steak should be served immediately after cooking. I go about making my broth my own way, which is to heat water up to almost boiling and combining it and the concentrated chicken Better Than Bouillon in a measuring cup. Make sure it’s mixed up really well.
Dice up your onion and pepper(s), and have them ready to go. Next, get a medium skillet, or better yet, a saute pan, preheat it on medium, add some cooking oil, and add your onion. Cook this for about 3-4 minutes until it starts to become translucent. Add your pepper(s) and cook for another 2 minutes. Finish up your solid ingredients with the rice and toast for about a minute. Finally, add your cumin and black pepper. Make sure everything is nicely integrated, and add the broth and tomato sauce, stir, cover, and heat on high until boiling.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium/low, and let that cook for 20 minutes to see where we’re at. It could take longer, so just watch the rice until it is firm and no longer mushy. You can finish this step, or you can move on to the beef if you’re comfortable with juggling two things at once. Either continue with step 4 and come back to step 2 when you’re ready, or continue with step 2 now and let that rice cook while you’re cooking your steaks, it’s up to you.
2.). Ah, our steaks have arrived. Top Round is known as being a less than desirable cut, but as we will see here, can have excellent uses, as all cuts can. You can either find them cut thin and packaged at your supermarket, or you can thin some out yourself with a mallet. Besides making them more thin, this will also tenderize the meat.
Once you have acquired your thin steaks, first apply a thin layer of kosher salt on both sides of the steaks. Then, prepare two bowls, one for your egg mixture and one for the breadcrumbs. The one for the breadcrumbs is straightforward, just pour ’em in. For the egg bowl, crack and beat your eggs in the second bowl. Mince your garlic cloves up nice and small and throw that in. Add your cumin, oregano, black pepper, and paprika and mix everything up in the there to create a flavorful marinade.
Next, you will give your steaks a nice bath in the egg mixture. Let them soak in the yolky goodness and absorb all of the flavorful flavorings that the divine bequeather has bequeathed unto them. And they shall know glory.
Run the steaks through the egg until they are fully coated, and then do the same with the bread crumbs. Transfer them to large plates, and we will begin our next step.
3.). Take your largest stainless steel skillet and heat on medium-high. Add a fair amount of vegetable cooking oil (not olive!), enough to cover the entire surface of the pan. You don’t need to create a swimming pool, however. It is very important that the pan and oil are hot before putting the steaks in, because if they are not, your steak will slowly cook, probably overcooking it, and the bread crumbs won’t brown. The whole thing will look and taste awful, AWFUL I TELL YOU!
Get some tongs, and place the steaks in carefully as to not break their new breadcrumb casings, away from you to minimize the risk of oil splattering and burning you, and cook for 1 minute, each side. These are super thin steaks and don’t need much time. Check at this time to see if the bread crumbs have browned, and leave on there until they do, but flip them after a minute and a half no matter what since you severely don’t want to over cook the steaks.
You should have some golden brown steaks at this point, which once again, you’ll transfer to a plate. See? That was pretty painless and quick. Your rice, however, could use some attention.
4.) Let’s get back to that rice! Pop open the lid and let that steam clear to reveal your wonderful masterpiece…hopefully. Take a sample if you like to see if it still needs any time to cook, and if not, remove from the heat. Get a serving spoon or something similar, and give the whole thing a good fluff, which will also help distribute color and flavor across the entire batch. Squeeze half a lime over the rice when it’s done as a finishing touch.
5.). Now that you’ve got your main parts of the dish, I like to select one more side. Depending on where you go, traditionally, Milanesa can be served with a very simple green salad with tomatoes, so that’s an option, but I decided to go with refried beans which you can just heat up pre-made in a small sauce pan for a few minutes on medium heat. Plate everything up and garnish with things like cilantro, lime, queso fresco, jalapenos, and/or sour cream or real crema Mexicana if that’s available. There are other possibilities, so use your imagination.
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