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Prego no pão
Prego no pão: a thin garlic-fried steak in a crusty roll, Lisbon's favourite late-night bite
Lisbon diners order a prego at the end of a long seafood lunch, at football matches and after midnight from a beach-bar hatch: a thin slice of beef, beaten flat, fried hard in garlic and bay and stuffed into a crusty papo-seco roll. The name means 'nail', perhaps for the garlic that is hammered into the meat. Mustard or a dash of piri-piri is all it needs. A common mistake is a thick steak; it must be thin enough to cook in a minute a side or it steams and turns grey. Chef's tip: dip the cut side of the roll in the hot pan juices just before you close it.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
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What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (2)
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Lay each 4 beef sirloin or rump steaks steak between sheets of baking paper and beat with a rolling pin until about 5 mm thick. Rub on half the 2 cloves garlic and 1 tsp coarse salt and leave for 10 minutes.
10 minStep 2: Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat with 2 bay leaves and the rest of 2 cloves garlic until it sizzles and smells sweet, about 1 minute.
1 minStep 3: Turn the heat to high, add the steaks and fry for 1 minute a side, until well browned outside. They will be slightly pink in the middle; cook another minute if you prefer them well done.
3 minStep 4: Lift the steaks out, add 3 tbsp water to the pan and scrape up the browned bits for 30 seconds to make a little garlicky sauce. Remove the bay.
Step 5: Press the cut sides of 4 crusty white bread rolls into the pan juices, put a steak in each and add 4 tsp yellow mustard or 1 tsp piri-piri sauce if you like. Eat straight away.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 420 kcal
- Protein
- 32 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does prego no pão take?
- About 20 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of bay leaves?
- Leave it out, or a pinch of dried thyme (it's a background flavour).
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