How to make asado

 

Overview

An asado, the most popular food in Uruguay, is traditionally cooked in a "parrillero": a wood fired oven that is typical in the country. Despite of this, there also are recipes to cook asado in regular ovens, although the results are not the same.

Wood-fired oven

A typical Uruguayan asado will be cooked in a wood fired oven, locally called parrillero. Cooking the asado in this kind of oven provides it with a great flavor which can't be found in an asado cooked in other kind of oven.

Ingredients

The ingredients you will need to cook an asado are: cooking oil, salt, water, oregano, garlic and asado meat. The traditional meat used in Uruguay is a "tira de asado", a cut from the ribs area with a width of about 10 centimeters. Besides, a traditional Uruguayan asado would usually also have chorizos, morcillas, and maybe other pieces such as chinchulines and chotos.

Recipe

Start cooking the meat (and chorizos, morcillas, etc, if you have them as well) in the parrillero or under medium temperature if you use a regular oven, and without adding salt to it. Adding salt to cow meat before you start cooking it causes it to become dry. If you will cook the asado using the traditional ribs piece, start cooking it with the bones towards the fire source and then turn it when is halfway to be done.

At this point, when the meat is halfway from being done, you should also spread some mojo over it. The mojo is made by mixing salt in some water. Then, you should make chimichurri for when the asado is done. Chimichurri is made by mixing cooking oil, oregano, salt, and garlic (chopped thoroughly) and a bit of belly pepper (also chopped thoroughly) and pepper if you wish as well. You should put a pot with chimichurri with a little spoon on the table when you serve the asado, and each person can add chimichurri to their dishes as they desire. Also, a Uruguayan asado is typically accompanied with a tomatoes and lettuce salad.