My earliest memory of eating Portuguese food whilst growing up in South Africa was when my Dad took me to a small Portuguese restaurant in the town that he used to work in. It was accessed via a narrow stairway on the side of the building and you were always met by Johnny the owner with his huge moustache and big smile. The restaurant wasn’t very big, only containing 10 or 12 tables. It was dimly lit with basic decor, red tablecloths and the obligatory Portuguese music playing softly in the background. The food was delicious every time we visited. Fantastic fried fish, Portuguese soup, bacalhau and potatoes, grilled and butterflied prawns, grilled and flamed chorico sausage, great Portuguese bean stews, steaks egg and chips, peri peri chicken, chicken livers and of course my go to dish classic trinchado.
Johnny’s trinchado had an amazingly rich spicy sauce with huge chunks of beef. He didn’t add cream to his recipe but I have seen a few recipes that include the addition of cream after cooking. I prefer the recipe without cream. Johnny served his trinchado over the thick cut chips and it was amazing. My recipe is based on what I remember it tasting like at his restaurant.
Trinchado is a traditional South African Portuguese fusion dish with every family having their own recipe. It is difficult to trace the origin of the dish but some people think that is was born out of Mozambique where bars used to serve a small tapa type dish with your drinks. It was a spicy stew that contained whatever the bar would normally serve on a daily basis so it could contain various meats and seafood and of course the obligatory spices. These days classic trinchado is made using beef but I have a little secret to tell you. Cubed pork shoulder works a treat and the meat is so tender after the long cooking time.
Trinchado is served with fresh Portuguese rolls and not so traditionally with thick cut chips. I like to add the chips directly to the sauce for them to absorb all that amazing flavour. I find that trinchado tastes better a few days later so we always make a really big batch and refrigerate to snack on during the week.
Trinchado does require long cooking times so this is a perfect recipe for those lazy weekends. Make a large batch and freeze some for a quick weekday meal.
PrintClassic Trinchado
(45 votes, average: 4.04 out of 5)
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A classic South African Portuguese trinchado recipe that is spicy and rich. Pairs perfectly with fresh Portuguese rolls
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: Mains, African meals
- Cuisine: African
Ingredients
15g unsalted butter
15ml olive oil
1kg beef rump / pork shoulder cubed
2 large white onions sliced
2 to 3 hot red chillies chopped
45ml peri peri sauce (optional but adds an amazing flavour. I use Nandos medium peri peri sauce or you can make your own. I use this recipe from Jo at Every Nook and Cranny)
6 cloves of garlic crushed
30g flour
250ml beef stock (home made or store bought)
250ml good quality dry red wine
2 bay leaves
25 to 30 black olives (seed removed)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat a large heavy based pot over high heat for 4 minutes.
Add the butter and oil and wait for the butter to stop sizzling
Slowly add the meat in batches to the pot and brown on all sides (this is a very important step so don’t rush the browning process as it creates flavour)
Remove the meat once thoroughly browned and set aside on a plate
Lower the heat to medium and add the sliced onions and chillies. Cook until the vegetables are soft
Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds
Add the flour and stir to combine before adding the stock and wine
Add the beef and any juices from the plate as well as the bay leaves, olives and peri peri sauce to the pot.
Stir to combine and season to taste. Don’t over salt at this stage as the liquid will reduce as it cooks.
Cook for 2 to 3 hours on low until the meat is tender.
Serve with rolls and thick cut chips.
Keywords: Easy Trinchado Recipe, Trinchado, Classic Tinchado
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It looks absolutely delicious.
Thanks Annamarie. It is, you should try it sometime!
We have made your recipe a couple of times now and it is really delicious
Thanks Adele I’m really glad you like the recipe!
Try adding a tsp of smoked Paprika. Use green olives instead of black
Thanks Andrew I’ll try that!
Hi Daryl thanks for the recipe can I use these ingredients for chicken ! What restaurant are you talking about in South Africa ? Sounds familiar to me
!
Hi Janine,
You can use boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut them into bite sized pieces and continue with the normal recipe. I would reduce the cooking time slightly to avoid drying out the chicken. The restaurant was called Johnny’s. It was in Wolf Street in Kempton Park, unfortunately it closed down a long time ago.
Hey Daryl
The new trend is to use these new instant pots. I used your recipe to about 95% due to cooking with an Instant pot.
Came out great ! Thanks for the recipe.
I will definitely try it in my instant pot. Glad you liked the recipe!
Very nice
Hi Daryl
Not sure if you’ve tried this recipe with cream before? I really enjoy cream in my trinchado, and was wondering if you could advise as to how much and when to add the cream if I wanted to?
Yes, I love the cream version as well. Always add the cream at the end to avoid it splitting.
I live in Australia and made it for the first time last night. Got rave reviews from my friends. They rated it 10/10. Thanks for your great recipe.Now need to try the chicken version.
cool
just put it together on the kettle braai! will test in 2 hrs.
Great recipe, I put in a punnet of chopped portobello mushrooms too. Man second time made it, just fantastic with a soft floury Portuguese roll. Could be straight outta La Rochelle 👍🏻