Riki Taki Sandwich

by Barry Lewis

Difficulty
Easy

Ingredients

1kg beef mince

Ciabatta bread rolls / or similar

½ cabbage, shredded

1 large beef tomato, sliced

2 eggs, hard boiled, shelled & sliced

2tbsp tomato ketchup

2tbsp mayonnaise

3tbsp lemon juice

For dressing the lettuce / tomato

2tbsp corn oil

2tbsp white vinegar

1tsp salt

For the homemade Adobo Seasoning

3tbsp garlic powder

1tbsp onion powder

1tsp oregano

1tsp salt

1tsp white pepper

1tsp paprika

(or just use store bought Adobo seasoning of course!)

The Riki Taki sandwich sounds impressive as a name anyway, but this is a super incredible sandwich! A couple of folks suggested I give this Dominican Republic recipe a try and I was not disappointed, in fact despite the ‘strange’ ingredients I was warned about, it was actually fine and possibly one of the best toasted style sandwiches I’ve ever had and it doesn’t even have any melted cheese which is normally for me a deal breaker!

Here we make our own homemade Adobo seasoning, cook it up with beef mince and load it in a ciabatta with seasoned lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup and eggs. It sort of fuses together into this absolutely incredible combo where the mayo soaks into the beef and it has this unexpected sweetness that just totally caught me off guard, an absolute winner! I really hope you try it!

 

How to make a Riki Taki Sandwich 

  1. First up if you’ve not already, hard boil your eggs and slice up. Meanwhile put the tomatoes and lettuce into 2 separate bowls (or just 1 if you don’t mind them mixing when building) divide up the salt, vinegar and oil between the two bowls and stir gently to coat the tomatoes / lettuce respectively. (As I say you can do this step in one big bowl if you like)
  2. Make the adobo by mixing all the adobo ingredients together in a bowl. Cook the beef mince, using a little extra corn oil in a frying pan until browned, once browned add in 4tbsp of the adobo seasoning (most of what you made) & the lemon juice, stir to coat, keep cooking it until it chars slightly stirring often.
  3. With the beef cooked, build the sandwich! Take a ciabatta bun, add mayo to the bottom, then pile on some beef, the mayo will help it stick in place. Then add layers of cabbage, then tomato, then egg slices. Coat the top of the ciabatta bun in ketchup then press it onto the eggs, this will help hold them in place. Cook on your sandwich press until toasted and flattened slightly. Serve warm, absolutely gorgeous!