Cuban Style Breaded Steaks (Bistec Empanizado)

I have lived in sunny South Florida all my life and Cuban food is a staple here. These breaded steaks are one of my favorite Cuban dishes! They are thin, tender, crispy and muy rico!! You won’t believe how easy and quick they are to make! My Aunt Yolonda, who is Cuban, gave me this recipe. You’ll be singing its praises (in spanish) when you try it! 

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I am a Floridian, born and raised in South Florida. There are not many of us, however we do exist. You would think that living here, in what seems like a foreign country to most, having a Puerto Rican father and with the last name Cruz… I would speak Spanish. Nope! People assume you speak Spanish here and just start talking to you. I have to quickly tell them I don’t understand what they are saying. Then they just stare at me with a confused look. I never learned! Yes, my father is Puerto Rican and HE speaks Spanish, but my mom is French and doesn’t speak Spanish… or French. Just English. All we spoke at home was English. I mean I took 2 years of Spanish in high school, but how much good does that really do for anyone? Can you say short term memory? The funniest thing about it all is that I married a gringo. He’s a true white boy from out West who has no rhythm. And you know what? HE SPEAKS SPANISH!!!! Bahahahaha!! He lived in Bolivia for 2 years as a missionary for our church and learned the language there. Now living in South Florida, he uses it everyday. It’s nice to have my gringo hubby to translate for his Puerto Rican wife every now and then. I think I’ll keep him around.

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Whenever I make this dish, my kids immediately start jumping for joy. I feel like I can’t cut the steaks fast enough before someone else is asking for more. Somehow I manage to get some in my mouth too. There are a couple secret key ingredients that make this recipe exceptional. The first key ingredient is using cracker meal. The Gilda brand, like shown below, is ground Cuban crackers. I find this item in the bread aisle at my local grocery store, but you may also find it next to the crackers. You can also buy it here.

The next key ingredient is using Lawry’s Garlic Salt. Sprinkle the salt onto your steaks before you dredge them. I like to do both sides. Do not add any additional salt.

Dip your steaks into the cracker meal on both sides.

Then dip into the beaten egg.

And return back to the cracker meal again. Wait a few seconds for the cracker meal to absorb the egg before you place in hot oil. 

Heat up your oil on medium-high heat. Pour about a 1/4 inch oil to bottom of pan. Do not place your steaks into the oil until it is hot. The steaks cook pretty fast so be sure to stay close and watch them. If you start to see residue from the steaks burning, then dump out your oil and wipe the pan with paper towels and add more oil for next batch of steaks. Serve with lime juice squeezed on top.