Bistek Tagalog

If there's one thing that I can't just easily minimize the consumption of, it has to be beef! I'm a beef-lover since I learned how glorious bulalo is. Then as I grew older, I have always loved my mama's beef caldereta. Its savory sauce made of rich tomato paste, pork liver and some chili was a perfect match to the beef's taste and texture. And one day, after a long and tiring trip along EDSA, my husband and I found ourselves parking in front of a beef pares joint near our house. Yes, instead of going home directly, we stopped by to eat pares—our ultimate post-carmageddon meal. But that's not the recipe I'm sharing here today. Sorry for the confusion, haha.

I got carried away with my beef stories that I went that far. It happened that my husband came home with a big bag of white onions from their farmer friends. The ones we got were actually market rejects. It was still perfectly edible but they came in odd sizes so it's not good to sell anymore. And since white onions rot fast, I needed to consume it before it does. Bistek Tagalog enters the picture. 

Just like in my previous recipe posts, I have important reminders first before you cook:

• Since this is a legit Pinoy ulam, I used a classic kawali. You may use the pan of your choice, though.
• This dish became too salty after the third reheating. So if you'll try this recipe, maybe you can add some water every time you reheat it and do so on top of fire instead of popping it into the microwave oven. Reheating in the microwave hardens the beef, too.
• It's best to use sirloin cut to make sure beef is tender after an hour of simmering. Otherwise, cooking will take longer than usual and you have to add water over and over, which might take off its the taste of the beef from its marinade. It sounds contradicting from what I said above but if you think deeper, it's not. See, my recipe posts require Science proficiency lol.
• You can use regular soy sauce but I personally recommend a lighter version like Kikkoman, which has less salt.

Alright, shall we?

Ingredients:

- 500gms beef, thinly sliced

- 1/2 cup soy sauce

- juice from 4 to 5 pcs of calamansi

- 4 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 white onion, sliced into rings

- 1 1/2 cups water

- 1 tablespoon sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder

- salt to taste

- cooking oil

- chopped spring onions for garnish (optional)

Procedure:

1. In a bowl, mix soy sauce, pepper, calamansi juice and 2 chopped cloves of garlic with beef. Cover and chill for a minimum of one hour. Best if overnight.

2. Sauté reaining minced garlic until golden brown and half of the white onions until translucent. Set aside.

3. In the same pan, fry beef slices. One minute per side. 

4. Remove as much black remnants as you can. Discard most of the oil, though just leave a bit for sautéing.You can use a different pan if you want but I like the flavor from the oil so I used the same pan. 

5. Sauté remaining onions until translucent then add the marinade, sugar and water. Cover and let it boil.'

6. Once sauce boils, put back the beef slices into the pan. Cover and simmer for an hour or until the beef is tender.

7. Once beef is tender, you may serve it with red rice and cucumber salad. Check out my quick and easy Ensaladang Pipino recipe here! If desired, sprinkle some chopped spring onions for color and more flavor. Enjoy!

For more easy-to-follow recipes, click here: #RoyalDomesticityRecipes