Cómo cocinar Salteña

I really appreciate the hospitality of my host family in La Paz. They have done so many things for me, although I, or JICA correctly, pay them for the accommodation monthly. I always wanted to express my appreciation to them sincerely. But how, you know?

My host family in La Paz LOVES Japanese food. So, for the first time in Bolivia I made some for them; Okonomiyaki, or Japanese pancake with chicken and cabbage, and Mabodofu, or fried ground meat and tofu with spicy Chinese sauce. For that, I went to a tiny Japanese shop to get some ingredients. Tey partly import suff from Japan and others are from a colonial in Santa Cruz, Colonia Sun Juan like Japanese rice, tofu, special veges like Japanese leeks, etc.

When I told them that I was going to cook, they were super excited and decided to cook, at the same time, some Latin-American popular food; Salteña, pan with meat inside and Chili. Honestly speaking, it WAS a wrong idea. Since we made too much food, we had to keep eating the Japanese pancake, tofu thing, Chili, and Salteña for three days in row. I’m damn sure I would really hate meat for a while.