Essential · about 5 h 30 min, plus 12–18 hours of soaking · Serves 4
Premium silky locro with white corn, veal shank, plate, pork belly ribs, trotter and paprika chorizo
The criollo locro of the patriotic holidays: white corn, beans, squash and beef and pork cooked long until thick, with its little red fat on top. This locro does not aim to be heavier, but more integrated: criollo, warm and deep, yet clean, silky and with no oily layer.
The technique changes the usual order. The meats are not seared: they are cooked slowly from cold water for a clean, gelatinous, delicate stock, which is skimmed of fat at three moments. The trotter and the bacon are blanched and used in minimal amounts, as texture and perfume. A long sofrito, a processed roasted squash and a ladle of the locro itself blended give the silkiness without turning it into a purée, and the paprika chorizo is poached separately so it arrives tender and juicy.
Special equipment: large heavy-bottomed pot; hand blender; kitchen thermometer recommended
Ingredients
Soaking
- 330 g white corn for locro
- 35 g pallar beans (lima beans)
Meat stock
- 330 g bone-in veal shank (osso buco)
- 170 g beef plate (falda), in one or two large pieces
- 100 g pork belly ribs, in one piece
- 170–200 g pork trotter, split
- 40–45 g smoked bacon, in one piece
- 1 small bay leaf
- 1.9 liters cold water
Sofrito
- 120 g white onion
- 35 g leek
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil or fat from the stock, only if needed
- 1 heaped teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon crushed chili flakes, or up to ⅓ if you want it spicier
- A pinch of cumin
- A little black pepper
Roasted squash
- 160 g winter squash, in large cubes
- A little oil and a pinch of salt
Locro
- 270 g winter squash, in medium cubes
- 70 g sweet potato, in small cubes
- 25–35 g already cooked, tender tripe
- 350–450 ml hot water, to adjust the texture
- Fine salt, at the end
Paprika chorizo
- 80–100 g good-quality paprika chorizo (chorizo colorado), whole
Red fat (grasita colorada)
- 35 ml neutral oil or beef fat
- ½–1 scallion, very finely chopped
- ¾ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon crushed chili flakes
- A pinch of cumin and one of salt
Finishing
- A little scallion, finely cut
Method
Soaking
- Soaking. Soak the corn and pallar beans separately, in plenty of cold water, 12–18 hours: the pallar is more delicate and breaks sooner than the corn. The next day, drain and rinse them well.
Meat stock
- Preparing the meats. Use the veal shank as a bone-in slice, without blanching or searing, removing only the thickest outer fat. The plate and pork belly ribs go in large pieces, not cut into cubes; some of the outer fat can be removed from the ribs. The bacon goes in one piece, about 6 × 3 × 2 cm: it should perfume, not dominate.
- Blanching. Put the trotter in cold water, bring to a boil, cook 10 minutes, discard the water and wash it with hot water, rubbing well. The bacon, in cold water, bring to a gentle boil 5 minutes, discard the water and rinse lightly.
- Stock. Put in a large pot the veal shank, plate, ribs, blanched trotter and bacon, the bay leaf and the cold water. Slowly bring to the first boil and lower to the minimum: small, constant bubbles, never a violent boil. Cook 1 h 45 min – 2 hours.
- Skimming fat in three stages. During the first 20–30 minutes, remove the grayish foam with a skimmer. At 60–75 minutes, ladle off the shiny patches of fat, without stirring first, because the fat emulsifies into the broth. Before adding the corn, lower to the minimum or turn off 5 minutes, let the fat rise and remove it again, leaving a little for flavor, but not an oily layer.
- Meats. Move the meats to a dish with a little broth so they do not dry out. Separate the veal shank from the bone, discard fat and hard parts and shred it into medium strands. Remove the thick fat from the plate and shred it or cut it into small bites. From the ribs, keep only the tender meat, in bites or lightly shredded. From the trotter, chop very finely only 1 or 2 tablespoons of gelatinous skin: it adds silkiness, it should not be the protagonist. Taste the bacon and, if it is mild and pleasant, chop 1 tablespoon very finely.
Sofrito
- Slow sofrito. Chop the onion, leek and garlic very finely and cook them in the fat over low heat 20–25 minutes, without browning, until translucent, sweet and almost melted. Add the paprika, chili, cumin and pepper, cook only 10 seconds and moisten right away with a ladle of hot stock, so the paprika does not burn.
Roasted squash
- Cream. Season the squash with just a little oil and salt and roast at 200 °C (390 °F) for 35–40 minutes, until tender and with barely golden edges. Process it with a ladle of stock to a smooth cream: it brings deep sweetness, warm color and a velvety texture.
Locro
- Corn and pallar. Return to the pot the skimmed stock with the corn, pallar and sofrito, and cook over low heat 1 h 30 min – 2 hours, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, especially in the second half. The corn should be tender, barely opened and with presence, without breaking down into a purée. If it thickens too much, add hot water little by little, never cold.
- Squash and sweet potato. With the corn almost tender, add the squash cubes and sweet potato and cook 35–45 minutes, until the squash begins to break down.
- Combining. Add the veal shank, plate, ribs, chopped trotter, tripe cut into 2–3 cm strips or 5 mm cubes, the chopped bacon if balanced and the roasted squash cream, and cook everything 15–20 minutes over very low heat, without a hard boil.
- Texture. Blend only one large ladle of the locro, with corn, squash and liquid, and return it to the pot. It should be creamy, fluid and glossy, with visible grain, with no oily layer, neither a thick purée nor a soup. If thick, loosen with hot water or stock; if liquid, cook it uncovered a few minutes.
Paprika chorizo
- Poaching. Cook the whole chorizo in hot water at 75–80 °C (167–176 °F) —steaming, with an occasional small bubble— for 10–12 minutes. Cool it and cut into slices 5–7 mm thick.
- Finishing. At the end, heat the slices in a small pan with 3 or 4 tablespoons of locro broth and, if you like, a few drops of red fat, over low heat 3–5 minutes, without frying or browning: it should be soft, juicy and glossy. Add a few slices to the locro in the last 3 minutes and set aside the nicest for serving.
- Resting. Turn off the heat and let the locro rest 25–30 minutes. The corn keeps absorbing liquid: adjust with hot water or stock and correct the salt only now, because the bacon and chorizo already season.
Red fat
- Infusion. Heat the oil over low heat, cook the scallion 1–2 minutes without browning and turn off the heat. Add the paprika, chili, cumin and salt, mix and infuse 10 minutes. For a cleaner presentation, strain it and use only the red oil.
Finishing
- At serving. Finely cut a little scallion and warm the plates.
The dish
Serve in hot deep plates. Put a base of creamy locro, so the white corn kernels show, and arrange in the center a few strands of melting meat. On top, three slices of tender paprika chorizo, a few drops or a thin thread of red fat and very little finely cut scallion. Avoid bacon in view, large pieces of trotter or a lot of tripe on the surface. Final look: a glossy ivory and orange locro, with whole kernels, strands of meat in the center, the red of the chorizo and the red fat, and green dots.
Key points
- Do not sear the meats and cook them from cold water, over the minimum heat, for a clean stock.
- Skim the fat at the three moments, without stirring before removing the fat.
- Use the trotter, bacon and tripe in minimal amounts: they perfume and add texture, they do not lead.
- Do not cook the chorizo for hours: it is poached separately and added at the end.
- Blend only one ladle: the locro should keep the grain visible.
Pairing
A young Malbec or a Bonarda, with fruit and freshness for the pork fat and the paprika. Without alcohol, sparkling water with lemon.
Notes
- No regular chorizo: this version uses only paprika chorizo, which brings paprika, aromatic fat, color and criollo character without making the dish heavy.
- Storage: leftover locro is chilled quickly in shallow containers and kept up to 3 days at 5 °C (41 °F) or below. Reheat it with a little hot water to 74 °C (165 °F) at the center.
- The source was calculated for 6 servings; this version rounds the quantities for 4.