Essential · about 4 hours, almost all of it in the oven, plus 2–12 hours of rub · Serves 4
Oven-braised tri-tip with homemade barbecue sauce and rustic potatoes
Illustrative image generated with AI, not a photo of the cooked dish.
Kitchen test pending
The same root as the lacquered sous vide tri-tip of the family: an Argentine cut with the flavors of North American barbecue, spice rub, long cooking and a dark sauce that lacquers it. This version is done in the home oven, with no water bath or vacuum sealer, and arrives at the table tender, with its sauce and some potatoes.
The twist is a short, covered braise with dark beer and a finish with an uncovered lacquer. The meat is coated with mustard and rub, cooked at 150 °C (300 °F) over onion and beer until it cuts with little pressure, and the juice in the dish is reduced with ketchup, honey, vinegar and smoked paprika into a homemade barbecue sauce. The potatoes roast in the same oven.
Special equipment: baking dish with lid or aluminum foil; instant-read thermometer recommended
Ingredients
Tri-tip and rub
- 1 whole tri-tip (colita de cuadril), 1.2–1.5 kg
- 15 g mustard
- 18 g fine salt
- 10 g muscovado sugar
- 5 g smoked paprika
- 4 g ground black pepper
- 3 g garlic powder
- 2 g ground cumin
Braise
- 2 onions, in thick slices
- 330 ml dark beer
- 15 ml neutral oil
Homemade barbecue sauce
- All the strained juice from the dish
- 150 g ketchup
- 30 g honey or muscovado sugar
- 30 ml apple cider vinegar
- 15 ml Worcestershire sauce
- 5 g smoked paprika
- 1 pinch of crushed chili flakes, optional
Rustic potatoes
- 1 kg medium potatoes, unpeeled
- 40 ml olive oil
- 2 rosemary sprigs
- Fine salt and coarse salt
Finishing
- 1 small red onion, in thin rings
- 30 ml lemon juice and a pinch of salt
Method
Tri-tip and rub
- Rub. Dry the meat without removing all the outer fat, coat it with a very thin layer of mustard and cover it with the mixture of salt, sugar and spices, pressing. Refrigerate it uncovered for 2–12 hours: the salt penetrates and the surface dries.
Braise
- Browning. Heat the oven to 150 °C (300 °F). Brown the tri-tip in a very hot pan with the oil, 2 minutes per side, taking care that the sugar in the rub does not burn.
- Covered oven. Spread the onion in the dish, set the meat on top fat side up and pour the beer in at the side, without washing off the rub. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 2 h 30 min – 3 hours, until a fork goes in with little resistance and the meat yields when pressed, but without falling apart.
Homemade barbecue sauce
- Reduction. Move the meat to a tray. Strain the juice from the dish, pressing the onion, and skim the fat with a spoon. Put it in a saucepan with the ketchup, honey, vinegar, Worcestershire, paprika and chili, and simmer gently for 10–15 minutes, until thick enough to coat a spoon. Taste: sweet, acidic and smoky, without covering the meat.
Rustic potatoes
- Roasting. Cut the potatoes into wedges with the skin, boil them 6 minutes in salted water and drain them, shaking the pot to rough up the edges. Toss them with the oil, rosemary and salt, and roast on a tray at 220 °C (430 °F) for 35–40 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp at the edges. Finish them with coarse salt.
Finishing
- Lacquering. With the oven at 220 °C (430 °F), brush the meat with a coat of sauce and bake it uncovered 8–10 minutes; brush again and continue 5 minutes, until the surface is dark, glossy and sticky. Let it rest 10 minutes.
- Onion. Mix the red onion with the lemon and salt at least 20 minutes before serving.
- Slicing. Always slice against the grain, in slices 1.5 cm thick.
The dish
Use wide flat plates or a board to share. Set 2–3 slices of tri-tip slightly overlapping, with the lacquered edge in view, and a group of rustic potatoes alongside. Spoon a little sauce over the meat, without covering the lacquer, and more sauce in a separate bowl. Finish with a few rings of drained red onion. Final look: slices with an almost black, glossy edge and a juicy interior, golden, craggy potatoes and the fuchsia of the onion.
Key points
- Brown the rub without burning it: it contains sugar.
- Cover the dish tightly so the meat does not dry out in the oven.
- Test tenderness with a fork, not by the clock.
- Reduce the sauce until it coats a spoon.
- Slice against the grain.
Pairing
A Malbec or a porter. Without alcohol, sparkling water with lemon.
Notes
- Storage: the braised meat can be chilled quickly in its juices and kept up to 3 days at 5 °C (41 °F) or below; reheat it covered in the oven to 74 °C (165 °F) and lacquer it at the end.