"Rich McCormack" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Charles Gifford wrote:
> >
> > "Mark Preston" > wrote in message
> > om...
> > > <snip>
> > >
> > > I had my first Chimichanga (de carne seca)
> >
> > That is not how I would define chimichangas. In fact I seem to be very
> > confused by this whole post! You mention "shredded beef", then call it
> > machaca. I have understood these differently. I understand "machaca" as
> > dried beef. The recipe below titled machaca is in no way a recipe for
dried
> > beef. Am I completely wrong or what? Please de-confuse me.
> >
> > Charlie
>
> As I understand...
>
> Machaca is what results from placing dried beef on a hard surface
> and pounding with a rock to shred it. The machaca is then rehydrated
> by soaking in liquid and added to the food being prepared or added
> dry to rehydrate in the liquids present during the cooking process.
>
> The whole piece of dried beef is called cecina. Beef is cut into
> long thin strips accordion style, sprinkled with lime juice, salt
> and ground black pepper, then hung on racks to dry. Pieces are
> cut from the cecina and pounded into machaca as needed.
>
> I make a reasonable substitute by making beef jerky using lime juice,
> salt, ground black pepper and ground dried chiles. Not having the
> suitable rock and hard place to put it between for pounding, I shred
> it in a food processor. Rehydrated in some rich red chile gravy,
> it'd probably serve well in a chimachanga, but I mostly use it for
> making Huevos con Machaca. Mmmmm, mmm...good stuff!
>
> Rich

Thanks for the additional information Rich. Very interesting. Made me hungry
too! I never thought of using jerky. Machaca is readily available and the
Mercado near my house (or, at least they did the last time I checked). I
haven't purchased any for quite some time. While I enjoy it, I haven't used
it in cooking. I ate at a Mexican place in Central CA a couple of years ago
and had what was supposed to be machaca and eggs. It turned out to be plain
shredded beef and a disappointment.

I wonder what the difference is between machaca and carne seca?

Charlie