Ah...Bistek Tagalog a.k.a Filipino Beef Steak.  I would like to share this very famous Filipino recipe and how I do it in my own kitchen.

It has been a month since my last post, which as usual, is about my hair. I am giving my hair a break and I am giving you guys something new to read about from my blog. So here I am...sharing a recipe.

Bistek Tagalog is one of the home favorites that I often cook for my family. It is also a common "pambaon" recipe. It is simple. It is tasty and it is a combination of two of our most favorite ingredients--Beef and onions.

Every household, mmm, every mom, has a different tweak for this dish. For us at home, we prefer it served with plenty of caramelized onions and roasted garlic.

There is nothing very fancy about the ingredients and the steps to making this famous Filipino dish is super easy. The taste, however, has a rich and luxurious feel. BISTEK, please correct me if I am wrong, is a colloquial term derived from BEEF STEAK.

The saucy dish originated from the Tagalog region. The strips of beef, preferably sirloin, is marinated and slowly cooked in soy sauce and kalamansi juice. In our home, and in most places, we top it with roasted minced garlic and lots of onions, then we serve it with steamed rice.

And the onions...some people use red onions while my family prefers white. It does not really matter which one you prefer. For me it tastes the same when caramelized, although white onions tend to have a stronger flavor. I cut the onions into rings and brown them in oil, then I pour enough water to cover them, then I add just one half of a chicken broth cube. I let it cook until most of the liquid is gone and then I set the onions aside.

Without further ado, this is how I cook my own version of Bistek Tagalog.



The first thing to do is marinate the beef. You need at least one hour to ensure that the beef will be flavorful when cooked. Some people would marinate it overnight, but in our house, 1 hour does it. Also, I sometimes use tenderloin because I prefer my beef really tender, not chewy.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
While the beef is marinating, obviously an hour can seem too long if you are simply waiting for it to pass, mince about 6 cloves of garlic and cook it in oil until it turns golden brown. Remove the garlic from the pan and drain on paper towels and set the garlic aside.
 
 
Then I caramelize the onions. I do this buy sautéing the onions in the same pan where I browned the garlic. Then I add a small amount of water, just enough to cover the onions. Add Magic Sarap or salt then let it cook under medium heat until most of the water is gone. Then I add butter and let is continue to cook until the onions are tender, translucent and brownish. Remove the onions from the pan and set it aside as well.
 
 
 
So those are the things that you need to do before you actually cook the beef. This is the recipe:
 

Ingredients:

500 g of beef, sliced thinly
4 Tbsp of soy sauce
6-8 pieces of calamansi,juice
2 Tbsp of Knorr seasoning (optional)
1 beef broth cube
1-2 tablespoons of sugar
2 Big onions, cut into rings
Oil for sautéing
Salt and pepper to taste
6 Cloves or Garlic

Steps:

1. In a bowl, marinate the beef in soy sauce, Knorr, calamansi juice.

2. Mince the garlic and cook in oil until golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside. Using the same pan, add the onions. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add water enough to cover the onions. add salt or magic sarap to taste and cook under medium heat until the water is almost gone. Add a tablespoon of butter and continue cooking until the onions are caramelized and the water is all gone. Set the onions aside

3. Then in a bigger pan, heat oil then sauté beef until brown. Add water enough to cover the beef. When the water begins to boil drop the beef cube. Also, pour in the marinade.
 
4. Add more water, if needed. The beef should be very tender.

5. Continue until the water is reduced. Add sugar and continue cooking for about two more minutes or until the liquid has reduced to a thick sauce.

6. Remove from heat, and transfer to a serving dish. Top the beef with onions then sprinkle fried garlic.

7. Serve with steamed rice and enjoy.

That's it. Bistek Tagalog is so simple to make. What is your version of this recipe?

 
 
 

• Ice
• Milk
• Cream Frappuccino Syrup (a concoction of sugar, preservatives, thickeners and artificial sweetener)
• Mango Syrup-they say the Unicorn Frappuccino has a mango base
• Blue Drizzle (More sweets! It is white mocha sauce that can be created by mixing condensed milk, cocoa butter and coconut oil--with blue food color)
• Pink powder (long story short--I don't know where to find it here.)
• Sour Blue Powder (Can't find this one here, either)
• Whipped Cream
• Vanilla Syrup

As for the broth, like I said, the traditional way of making it takes a lot of time. You need to boil soup bones along with other flavors.

As a mom with three always hungry kids to feed and a husband with a big apetite anything that cooks fast is heaven sent. I tried the old way of preparing the broth and it resulted to a really good bowl of ramen but on days when we want it fast I am lucky to have found this at the local shop.

We usually prefer pork but if it is not available, this or anything similar will do. The instructions call for 6 cups of water. Fir my recipe I added lots of crushed garlic and some pepper. Some would add ingredients like sake and sesame oil. At the moment, I am still on the experimenting phase.


Because earwood mushrooms and bamboo shoots are quite hard to find, for me, I used Enokitake or Enoki instead.

They are long thin white mushrooms that are available canned in many grocery stores. Some say shiitake mushroom are better but, the flavor too strong for my kids.

If you bought canned Enoki, make sure to drain them thoroughly first. You won't need the brine it came along with.

Palabok is a tasty filipino dish. It is served in many restaurants and can both be enjoyed as mirienda (snack) or a main meal. Often times, it is served with slices of buttered bread.


It looks quite fancy and colorful. In earlier times, the sauce is prepared by boiling shells and heads of shrimps before seasonings and thickener (for example cornstarch) are added. Sounds like a lot of work?

Fortunately, anyone can now buy instant palabok mix in groceries and this makes cooking the dish way much easier. Therefore, you can enjoy palabok anytime in the comfort of your home.

Note: Though you need not make the sauce from scratch, you will still need shrimps, but this time, you will just peel and cook them as the main ingredient. Sometimes I choose to cook this dish without shrimps. (HAHA!)

Here are the ingredients you will need:
1 pack of instant palabok mix
2 cups of water
200 g or rice noodles (sotanghon)
100 g of cooked shrimp
Flakes of smoked fish (optional)
Crushed pork chicharon (I prefer mine with plenty of this)
1 hard boiled egg, sliced
Spring onion, chopped
Fried or roasted garlic 
Calamansi (optional)

Procedure:

• Cook rice noodles according to package instructions
• Dissolve palabok mix in 2 cups of water, stir sauce over medium heat until thick.
• Pour sauce over cooked noodles
• Add shrimp, chicharon, smoked fish
• Garnish with egg, garlic and spring onions
• Serve with a slice of calamansi and buttered bread if available

Enjoy the meal with family or friends. This makes 4 servings.

Did you try it? Tell me what you think

Learn this amazing crab recipe today!

• When the crabs are already clean, transfer them to a large pot that you can cover during the cooking process. Add just a little water.
  
• Add salt.
  
• Add the orange soda
  
• Add garlic, sliced ginger and chili flakes
  
• Cover the pot and bring to boil, cook the crabs for 15 minutes and then add coconut milk. In the absence of fresh coconut milk, I used the canned one. However this one is so thick, i only used half of the the can.
  
   
• simmer for 5-10 more minutes or until most of the liquid is gone. but do not cook the crabs for more than 30 minutes. 

There you have it. Serve with steamed rice. Enjoy!

Bacolodnons from all walks of life love a good kansi, regardless of the weather and time of the day. That is why kansi houses or restaurants that serve kansi are always buzzling with customer.

• 1 Kg Beef Shank with bone marrow

• Batuan, Kamias or Sampalok

• Langka, or green jackfruit

• Tanglad or lemon grass

• 1 head of Garlic crushed

• Sili (Chili)

• Salt and Pepper

• 1 Tbsp Atsuete

• In the pot, brown garlic and set most of it aside. Then add, beef shank and brown the sides. Then add just enough water to cover all the meat.

• If you are using a pressure cooker, cover and cook for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, carefully, open your pressure cooker (please follow the right way of using the pressure cooker, which I am no longer going to discuss here.)

• If you are using just a regular pot, again, the meat will take a longer time before it becomes very tender. Do not stir the meat to much or the bone marrow will fall off, melt and disappear in the soup.

• Scrape the scum off the sides of your pot and those that are floating in the soup. Then add lemon grass and batuan or whatever souring agent you have available.

• Soak the annatto seeds in hot water to bring out the coloring. Meanwhile add langka and sili. Sili is optional.

• When the langka is soft and the meat is very tender and the flavors of the lemon grass and the batuan have come together with the flavors of the garlic and the meat,add the water where the annatto seeds was soaked in. You might want to use a strainer so none of the seeds will get in the soup.

• Season with salt and pepper.

• Serve with steamed rice and fried garlic.

Did you try the recipe? We would love to hear from you.