Plate 01 of 10

Chivito

Name: Chivito
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Uruguay
Ingredients: 600 g Beef tenderloin or boneless ribeye, trimmed, cut into 4 steaks and pounded to 4 mm between plastic wrap; 40 g Unsalted butter, for searing; 8 g Fine sea salt; 2 g Coarsely ground black pepper; 8 slices Cooked ham, sliced thin; 8 thick strips Smoked bacon, 3 mm thick; 200 g Mozzarella or Uruguayan Danbo cheese, sliced thin; 4 large Eggs; 30 ml Vegetable oil, for the eggs and bacon; 2 large Ripe tomatoes, sliced into 5 mm rounds; 8 leaves Butterhead or romaine lettuce, washed and dried; 60 g Pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced into rings; 60 g Pickled sweet red peppers, sliced into strips; 80 g Whole-egg mayonnaise; 4 Soft sandwich rolls, pan catalán or tortuga, split and buttered; 800 g Russet or Kennebec potatoes, peeled, cut into 1 cm batons and soaked in cold water

The national sandwich, invented in 1944 when a bar in Punta del Este had no goat. Tenderloin pounded to 4 mm and seared for a minute in foaming butter, stacked with ham, melted cheese, bacon and a runny egg, served in a toasted roll or over a mountain of twice-fried chips.

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 15 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Medium

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A chivito al plato: a stack of seared thin beef, ham, melted cheese and bacon topped with a fried egg, olives and red pepper strips, over a heap of chips.

In 1944, at the bar El Mejillón in Punta del Este, a customer asked Antonio Carbonaro for roast baby goat. He had none. He took a thin slice of grass-fed tenderloin, buttered a roll, seared the steak on the hot plate and stacked it with ham. The customer loved it, and the chivito became Uruguay’s national sandwich.

Ordered al pan it comes in a soft toasted roll. Ordered al plato the bread is dropped and the whole stack sits on a mountain of hand-cut chips beside a scoop of cold ensalada rusa. Either way it is salty, rich and stacked high.

Ingredients

Beef
600 gBeef tenderloin or boneless ribeye, trimmed, cut into 4 steaks and pounded to 4 mm between plastic wrap
40 gUnsalted butter, for searing
8 gFine sea salt
2 gCoarsely ground black pepper
The stack
8 slicesCooked ham, sliced thinabout 160 g
8 thick stripsSmoked bacon, 3 mm thickabout 200 g
200 gMozzarella or Uruguayan Danbo cheese, sliced thin
4 largeEggs
30 mlVegetable oil, for the eggs and bacon
2 largeRipe tomatoes, sliced into 5 mm rounds
8 leavesButterhead or romaine lettuce, washed and dried
60 gPimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced into rings
60 gPickled sweet red peppers, sliced into strips
80 gWhole-egg mayonnaise
4Soft sandwich rolls, pan catalán or tortuga, split and butteredomit for al plato
Chips
800 gRusset or Kennebec potatoes, peeled, cut into 1 cm batons and soaked in cold water

Thin meat, hot plate, sixty seconds

Pounding the tenderloin to 4 mm breaks up the muscle bundles so it bites through cleanly in a roll. That thin, it has to hit a 230 °C surface in foaming butter: the water in the butter flashes off, the milk solids brown, and the meat browns in under a minute a side. Past 90 seconds the core climbs over 65 °C and the steak goes leathery.

Melt the cheese on the ham, not the bread

Domed on the flat-top, the mozzarella melts over the hot ham and bonds the layers into one tier that lifts as a unit onto the steak.

The yolk is the sauce

The egg is fried only until the white sets. When the top bun presses down, the yolk breaks into the bread and binds the whole stack.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is cured bacon, ham, seasoned beef and brined olives. Fat is bacon fat, butter on the beef, mayonnaise and yolk. Acid is pickled peppers, olives and fresh tomato cutting through the fat. Heat is black pepper in the crust, with mustard at the table. Umami is beef juices, aged cheese, smoked bacon and the fond.

Equipment

12-inch cast-iron flat griddle, or two heavy cast-iron skillets
Deep pot and thermometer, for the chips
Basting dome or a metal bowl
Fish spatula, for the eggs

The sandwich shops use a wide carbon-steel plancha with separate heat zones for bacon, steak and eggs at once. At home, work in fast batches on a hot cast-iron griddle so the metal keeps its heat when cold meat lands.

Method

Twice-fry the chips12 min
Drain the potato batons and dry them thoroughly. Heat oil in a deep pot to 150 °C and blanch the potatoes 5 to 6 minutes until soft but pale. Lift out and drain.
Just before assembling, reheat the oil to 190 °C and fry the blanched potatoes 2 to 3 minutes until crisp and golden. Drain, salt, and keep warm.
Dry drained potato batons thoroughly. Fry at 150 °C for 5–6 minutes until soft and pale; drain. Just before assembly, fry again at 190 °C for 2–3 minutes until golden and crisp. Drain, salt and keep warm.
Crisp the bacon and melt the cheese8 min
Heat the griddle to medium-high, about 200 °C. Lay down the bacon and cook 3 minutes a side until deeply browned and crisp. Push to the cooler side. Lay the ham flat on the hot zone, put the mozzarella on top, and cover with a dome for 60 seconds until the cheese melts over the ham. Push it alongside the bacon.
Heat griddle to 200 °C. Cook bacon 3 minutes per side until deeply browned and crisp; move to the cooler zone. Top ham with mozzarella on the hot zone; cover 60 seconds until melted, then move beside bacon.
Toast the bread2 min
For al pan, set the buttered rolls cut side down on the griddle for 2 minutes until golden. Spread both sides with mayonnaise and layer the bottoms with lettuce and tomato, with a pinch of salt on the tomato.
For al pan, set the buttered rolls cut side down on the griddle for 2 minutes until golden. Spread both sides with mayonnaise and layer the bottoms with lettuce and tomato, with a pinch of salt on the tomato.
Flash-sear the steaks2 min
Turn the hot zone to high, about 230 °C, and melt the butter until it foams. Season the pounded steaks well with salt and pepper and lay them on the butter. Sear undisturbed 45 to 60 seconds, flip, and immediately stack the ham and cheese on each steak, then the bacon. Cook 30 seconds more and pull off the heat.
Heat hot zone to 230 °C; melt butter until foaming. Season 4 mm steaks with salt and pepper. Sear undisturbed 45–60 seconds; flip and immediately top with ham, cheese, then bacon. Cook 30 seconds more and remove.
Fry the eggs2 min
On the cleared griddle with a splash of oil, crack the eggs and cook over medium-high 60 to 90 seconds until the whites set and crisp at the edges while the yolks stay fluid. Lift each with a fish spatula.
On the cleared griddle with a splash of oil, crack the eggs and cook over medium-high 60 to 90 seconds until the whites set and crisp at the edges while the yolks stay fluid. Lift each with a fish spatula.
Assemble
Al pan: set each beef stack on its tomato and lettuce base, slide a fried egg on top, scatter olives and pickled pepper over the yolk, close with the top bun and press gently so the yolk breaks into the bread. Serve with the chips.
Al plato: mound the chips on wide platters, centre the stack on the chips, top with the egg and pickles, and serve with a scoop of chilled ensalada rusa.
Al pan: place beef stack on prepared bun, add egg, olives and pickled pepper; close and press gently to break yolk. Serve with fries. Al plato: set stack over fries, top with egg and pickles, and add chilled ensalada rusa.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a thin golden sear on the beef with a pink core, cheese fully melted and draped over the ham, a domed glossy yolk.
- Auditory: a loud, violent sizzle the instant the thin beef hits the buttered steel.
- Olfactory: rendered bacon, sizzling butter, seared beef and toasted bread.
Look for a thin golden beef crust and pink centre, cheese melted over ham and a glossy domed yolk. Expect strong sizzling on the griddle and bacon, butter, beef and toast aromas.

Troubleshooting

Grey, dry, chewy beef.: It sat on the griddle past 90 seconds. Sear hot and fast and pull it while the centre is still pink.
A bun that dissolves.: Tomato went straight against hot meat or untoasted bread. Toast the bun, spread mayonnaise as a fat barrier, and put the tomato on the lettuce.
A firm yolk and a dry sandwich.: The egg was overcooked. The runny yolk is the sauce that ties the stack together.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Beef tenderloin	Boneless ribeye or top sirloin	One-to-one. Trim the silverskin and pound to 4 mm
Danbo cheese	Mild provolone, fontina or low-moisture mozzarella	One-to-one. Melts smoothly over the ham
Pan catalán	Brioche burger buns or Portuguese rolls	One-to-one. Toast the cut face so it stands up to the juices

Scaling

Half, for 2

Halve everything and work in a single 12-inch cast-iron pan. Times stay the same.

Double, for 8

Double the ingredients and use an outdoor flat-top, or cook the meats and eggs in fast consecutive batches, holding cooked meat in an 80 °C oven for no more than 5 minutes.

What to serve it with

Chips served directly under the steak, so the juices and yolk season them
Ensalada rusa, chilled potato, carrot and pea salad in mayonnaise
Ice-cold Patricia lager, or a young unoaked Tannat

Questions

Can I use flank or sirloin?

Yes, if you trim all connective tissue and pound it to 3 mm. Ribeye works well for its marbling. Tenderloin is the standard for effortless bite-through.

What makes a chivito canadiense?

A chivito común is meat, lettuce and tomato. The canadiense adds the works: bacon, ham, melted cheese, fried egg, olives and pickled peppers.

Why is it called chivito with no goat in it?

Antonio Carbonaro named it in 1944 after a customer asked for baby goat. He had none, so he made her a "little goat platter" out of buttered beef tenderloin instead.