Lomo saltado, a stir-fry often served with fries, originated in Peru.
The dish combines strips of beef with red onion, tomato, soy sauce, vinegar, and seasonings. French fries are commonly tossed into the stir-fry or served alongside it, while white rice is often included as a second starch. That combination reflects Peru’s layered culinary history.
Lomo saltado developed within chifa, Peru’s Chinese-Peruvian cuisine. Chinese immigrants and their descendants brought wok cooking and stir-frying techniques into Peruvian kitchens, where they were combined with local ingredients such as ají peppers and potatoes. The result became a mainstream Peruvian dish rather than remaining limited to Chinese-Peruvian restaurants.
The word saltado refers to stir-frying and is connected to the idea of ingredients jumping in a hot pan. A common misconception is that the fries are merely a side dish; in many preparations they are part of the dish itself. Lomo saltado is therefore both a Peruvian national favorite and an example of Chinese-Peruvian culinary fusion.