Plate 03 of 10

Cazuela de Vacuno

Name: Cazuela de Vacuno
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 105 min
Total time: 135 min
Yield: 6 hearty portions
Cuisine: Chile
Ingredients: 1.5 kg Bone-in beef shank (osobuco), cut 4 cm / 1½ in thick; 30 ml Extra-virgin olive oil, or rendered beef tallow; 1 large Yellow onion, peeled and quartered; 1 medium Red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into thick strips; 4 cloves Fresh garlic, peeled and crushed flat; 1 large Carrot, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks; 5 g Ground cumin seeds, freshly toasted in a skillet; 3 g Dried Chilean wild oregano; 15 g Fine sea salt; 3 g Whole black peppercorns; 2.5 L Cold filtered water; 6 pieces Zapallo camote (sweet winter squash) or Kabocha, cut into 6 large 150 g wedges; 6 medium Yellow waxy potatoes (Yukon Gold), peeled and left whole; 3 ears Choclo (sweet corn), husked and silk removed, cut crosswise into 6 half-ears; 60 g Long-grain white rice, rinsed until the water runs clear; 150 g Fresh green beans (porotos verdes), trimmed and sliced lengthwise into thin ribbons; 30 g Fresh flat-leaf parsley and cilantro leaves, finely chopped

An open, clear beef consommé holding large unblemished cuts — bone-in shank with its marrow ring, a skin-on wedge of orange squash, a whole potato, half an ear of corn and julienned green beans. Sip the broth first, then carve.

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 1 hr 45 min
Serves: 6 hearty portions
Difficulty: Medium

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A dark clay bowl of clear golden broth holding a thick piece of bone-in beef with its marrow ring, half an ear of yellow corn, an orange squash wedge, a whole pale potato and ribbons of green bean.

Sunday lunch in a Chilean home revolves around the cazuela pot. Unlike blended purées or thick stews, a classic cazuela de vacuno is an open, clear beef consommé holding large, unblemished cuts: a thick bone-in beef shank with its marrow ring, a sweet wedge of orange squash with the skin still on, a whole peeled yellow potato, half an ear of corn, and long julienned green beans.

The broth stays pale and clear, scented with oregano and toasted cumin. You sip the broth first from wide clay bowls, then carve the fork-tender beef and vegetables.

Ingredients

Beef and aromatics
1.5 kgBone-in beef shank (osobuco), cut 4 cm / 1½ in thickor bone-in short ribs, trimmed of excess outer fat
30 mlExtra-virgin olive oil, or rendered beef tallow
1 largeYellow onion, peeled and quartered
1 mediumRed bell pepper, seeded and sliced into thick strips
4 clovesFresh garlic, peeled and crushed flat
1 largeCarrot, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks
5 gGround cumin seeds, freshly toasted in a skillet
3 gDried Chilean wild oregano
15 gFine sea saltplus extra to adjust at the end
3 gWhole black peppercorns
2.5 LCold filtered water
Vegetables and finish
6 piecesZapallo camote (sweet winter squash) or Kabocha, cut into 6 large 150 g wedgesskin left on
6 mediumYellow waxy potatoes (Yukon Gold), peeled and left whole
3 earsChoclo (sweet corn), husked and silk removed, cut crosswise into 6 half-ears
60 gLong-grain white rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
150 gFresh green beans (porotos verdes), trimmed and sliced lengthwise into thin ribbonschilenitos
30 gFresh flat-leaf parsley and cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Clarity depends on temperature, not skill

Beef shank is packed with type-I collagen, which hydrolyses into silky, water-soluble gelatin only when held between 82 °C and 93 °C / 180–200 °F. If the pot boils hard at 100 °C / 212 °F, the turbulence breaks coagulating blood and muscle proteins into tiny particles and forces rendered fat into a cloudy emulsion. Starting with cold water and holding a lazy sub-boil at 88–90 °C lets denatured proteins rise cleanly as grey foam.

Skim in the first 20 minutes

Skimming that foam early leaves the broth crystalline, fragrant and naturally thickened with dissolved gelatin. Everything after depends on it.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt goes into cold water from the start, so it penetrates the beef muscle down to the bone. Fat is golden tallow and marrow floating in tiny droplets — the ojitos — over the surface. Acid is naturally gentle here, brightened at the table with fresh lemon. Heat is earthy cumin, crushed garlic and black peppercorn. Umami is extracted shank collagen, melted bone marrow and slowly cooked vegetables.

Equipment

Heavy 7 L / 7 qt Dutch oven or stockpot
Wide spoon or skimmer
Meat thermometer
Six wide ceramic or clay bowls

Traditionally this is a large copper or earthenware pot, served in deep greda clay bowls that hold heat for half an hour. In a modern kitchen a heavy 7-to-8 quart enamelled cast-iron Dutch oven or multi-ply stainless stockpot does the job — thick-bottomed cookware eliminates hot spots on low flame settings.

Method

Brown the meat and aromatics10–12 min
Set a heavy 7-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat with 30 ml oil, and pat the beef shanks dry.
Sear the beef on its flat sides for 3 to 4 minutes per side until lightly browned — keep it light, so the broth stays pale.
Toss in the crushed garlic, quartered onion, bell pepper, carrot, cumin and oregano. Stir and cook 3 minutes, until fragrant.
Pat the shanks dry. Heat 30 ml oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat and sear 3–4 minutes per side until lightly browned. Add garlic, onion, pepper, carrot, cumin and oregano; stir and cook 3 minutes.
Add water and skim the scum15–20 min
Pour 2.5 litres of cold filtered water over the beef and vegetables, and keep the heat on medium-low.
Over the next 15 to 20 minutes, as the pot warms toward 85 °C / 185 °F, a thick layer of grey foam floats to the surface. Skim it off with a wide spoon or skimmer.
Keep skimming until the surface stays completely clear.
Pour in 2.5 litres cold water and keep over medium-low heat. As it approaches 85 °C / 185 °F over 15–20 minutes, skim off the grey foam until the surface stays clear.
Simmer low and slow1 hr
Turn the heat to its lowest setting to hold a gentle, trembling simmer around 88–90 °C, and set the lid slightly ajar.
Leave it alone for 1 hour, until the beef yields when poked with a knife tip.
Reduce heat to its lowest setting and leave the lid slightly ajar. Hold a gentle 88–90 °C simmer for 1 hour, until the beef yields to a knife tip; avoid a rolling boil.
Add the vegetables and rice20 min
Gently lower the six whole peeled potatoes, six squash wedges (skin-side down) and six corn half-ears into the broth. Scatter the 60 g of rinsed white rice across the liquid and stir in 15 g fine sea salt.
Cover partially and simmer gently 20 minutes. The potatoes and squash must turn tender without breaking apart into the broth.
Gently add 6 whole potatoes, 6 squash wedges skin-side down and 6 corn half-ears. Stir in 60 g rinsed rice and 15 g salt. Partially cover and simmer 20 minutes, until potatoes and squash are tender but intact.
Finish with green beans5 min
Drop the julienned green beans into the pot for the final 5 minutes. They should turn bright green and tender-crisp.
Check the beef: a thermometer in the centre of the shank should read 93–96 °C / 200–205 °F, and the meat should slip off a fork easily.
Add the green bean ribbons for the final 5 minutes, until bright and tender-crisp. Check that the shank reaches 93–96 °C / 200–205 °F and slips easily off a fork.
Assemble the bowls
Warm six wide ceramic or clay bowls. In each, place one piece of beef shank with its marrow bone, then set one whole potato, one squash wedge and one piece of corn around the meat.
Ladle the hot, rice-flecked broth over everything, spooning green beans across the top. Scatter chopped parsley and cilantro over each bowl and serve immediately.
In each of 6 warm bowls, arrange a shank with marrow bone, a potato, squash wedge and corn piece. Ladle over hot broth, rice and green beans; scatter parsley and cilantro and serve immediately.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: the broth is crystalline amber-gold with tiny yellow fat bubbles, the beef pulls away from the bone with no resistance, and the squash is soft but holds its wedge shape.
- Auditory: a quiet, gentle simmer breaking the surface with a soft bubble every three to four seconds — never a rolling churn.
- Olfactory: warm beef marrow broth, sweet corn steam, dried oregano and earthy squash.
Check for clear amber broth with tiny fat droplets, beef releasing easily from the bone and tender squash retaining its shape. Maintain a quiet simmer, with a bubble every 3–4 seconds.

Troubleshooting

Letting the pot boil hard.: A rolling boil breaks fat and proteins into a murky, greasy broth. Keep the heat low so the liquid barely trembles.
Adding the squash too early.: Squash put in at the start cooks to mush. Beef takes an hour and a half to soften; squash takes barely 20 minutes. Stage the vegetables.
Bland vegetables.: Potatoes and squash cooked in unsalted water have tasteless interiors. Salt the broth before the vegetables go in, so the salt diffuses into their starches.

Substitutions

One-to-one global substitutions, with the technique adjustment each one requires.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Beef shank (osobuco)	Bone-in English short ribs, or beef chuck with extra marrow bones	One-to-one. Delivers the same gelatin, rich flavour and bone marrow
Zapallo camote	Kabocha or butternut squash, skin-on	One-to-one. Kabocha has the same dense, sweet, dry-textured flesh
Choclo	Fresh sweet yellow or bi-colour corn on the cob	One-to-one. Cut into 5 cm / 2 in rounds

Scaling

Half, for 3 portions

Halve all ingredients in a 4-quart pot. The simmer times stay the same, because collagen breakdown depends on temperature, not batch volume.

Double, for 12 portions

Double the ingredients in an 11-to-12 quart stockpot. Make sure the pot is wide enough that the vegetables sit submerged in a single layer.

What to serve it with

Pan marraqueta and pebre — warm crusty Chilean rolls and fresh spicy salsa for dipping into the hot broth
Fresh lemon halves, squeezed into the broth to cut the rich marrow
An Itata Valley old-vine País, or a coastal Pinot Noir — light-bodied, low-tannin, with wild red berry acidity that matches the broth without overpowering the vegetables

Questions

Why keep the skin on the squash?

The skin acts as an anchor. Without it, sweet squash dissolves into pumpkin purée and clouds the broth.

Can I make this with chicken?

Yes — that is the beloved cazuela de ave. Use bone-in chicken thighs or legs, and simmer for just 35 minutes before adding the vegetables.

What does the rice do in the broth?

The small handful sheds just enough starch to give the consommé a silky mouthfeel, without turning it thick.