Beef Mechado is a type of Filipino beef stew. It is cooked in a tomato-based sauce along with cubed potato. The sauce can be made from chopped ripe tomato or canned tomato sauce. This dish is prepared mostly during weekends or special occasions. I think that the cooking time is a factor for the frequency. It takes around 90 minutes to cook it completely using the traditional method. It makes sense to make it when there is enough time.
Mechado vs. Kaldereta vs. Afritada
I hear a lot of comments regarding Filipino stews looking the same. What is the difference between mechado, kaldereta, and afritada? This is a valid question. My answer is based on observation.
Mechado
Mechado in general is a tomato based stew. Meats such as pork and beef are used to make this dish. The meat is cut into 1.5 x 1.5 inch cubes. The other ingredients used to cook mechado are potato, bay leaves, soy sauce, and lemon rind or lemon juice.
Kaldereta
Kaldereta is also a Filipino beef stew. It is cooked in a tomato-based sauce. Meats such as pork, beef, goat meat and chicken can be utilized to make this dish. Other ingredients include potato, carrot, and bell peppers. There are two versions of kaldereta. One makes use of liver spread. This is the most common version. The other uses peanut butter. Some of you might not realize that this version existed. It does. Here is the recipe. Chili peppers can be added to make it spicy.
Afritada
Afritada is a type of stew that commonly makes use of pork or chicken. This is the most frequently cooked dish among the three in comparison, in my opinion. Ingredients such as potato, carrot, green peas, bell pepper, and sliced hotdogs are utilized to make this dish.
These three dishes might all look similar, but there are quite a number of differences between each. The manner of preparation, protein used, cooking time, and other ingredients used will makes each dish unique.
How to Cook Beef Mechado
Cooking beef mechado is easier than you might be thinking. The first process is to saute the meat along with garlic and onion. Next is to tenderize it. The last part is to add the seasonings, spices, and other ingredients.
Start to saute by heating oil in a pot. Saute garlic and onion, and then add the beef. It is a good practice to soften the onion before adding the meat. This makes the onion taste sweeter. Add the beef and cook until all sides turn light brown. You’ll need to stir to cook the sides.
Add tomato sauce and water. Let boil. It is time to tenderize the meat. Cover the pot, adjust the heat between low to medium, and cook for 60 minutes or longer until the beef gets tender. You can add more water to prevent the sauce from drying-up during the process.
Add the remaining ingredients. Make sure to adjust the taste based on your preference. This means adding enough salt and pepper. You now have your Beef Mechado to enjoy.
Tips and Tricks
A good tip is to cook rice while waiting for the meat to tenderize. It might sound funny, but some of us are focused too much in cooking the dish to the point that other components of the meal are forgotten. This will ensure that you can enjoy your meal right after the stew is done.
Use a pressure cooker to quickly tenderize the beef. It can save you time by 70%.
Pork can also be used to cook mechado using the same recipe.
Try this Beef Mechado Recipe. Let me know what you think.
Beef Mechado Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 piece large onion sliced
- 2 lbs beef chuck cubed
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 slice lemon with rind
- 1 piece large potato cubed
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
- 2 pieces bay leaves laurel
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat cooking oil in a pan then saute the garlic and onion.
- Put-in the beef and saute for about 3 minutes or until color turns light brown
- Add the tomato sauce and water then simmer until the meat is tender. Add water as needed. Note this can take 60 to 120 minutes depending on the quality of the beef.
- Add the soy sauce, ground black pepper, lemon rind, laurel leaves, and salt then simmer until excess liquid evaporates
- Put-in the potatoes and cook until the potatoes are soft
- Place in a serving plate then serve hot with rice. Share and Enjoy!
Joelen says
Looks delicious and I like the addition of lemon, which I’ll have to try!
theresa memita says
i love to visit ur site…
esp f we have up coming occasion at home…
you really help me a lot’s tnxs
tokyo7 says
wow! your dishes are simply amazing and for sure, utterly delicious as well =)
thank you and more dishes to come!
sig says
one more thing nga pala they ven ask the recipe. Also i give them this website…
nene p. says
shalom from israel. today is my 50th birthday. so i decided to have a small celebration 2gether w/ my friends. all the foods that i cooked came all from ur site “panlasang pinoy”. i served them w/ snigang n baboy, adobong baboy w/c i also included chicken, gnataang tilapia and of course the mechadong baka. all my friends luv the mechado coz of different taste.maybe bcoz of the lemon rind.but believe me, i told them i got all the recipes from u.they all have high praises for u for what your doing and giving useful informations to us. kudos goes also to your wife.i’m an avid follower of ur site.thank you so much and GOD bless….
gerry fancobit says
mrming slmt s mga taong k tulad mo n di mrmot magbigy ng mga recepies ng mga ibat ibng pagkain pilipino!mabuhay k kbyan.God bless.
Porsh says
Thanks so much for your delicious recipes. Thanks to this website I’ve saved so much money by cooking at home. I love it!
Panlasang Pinoy says
Hi Porsh. Nice to hear from you. Thanks for commenting and hope to see you here always. Cheers!
Ben says
Wow Bro, Thnx for sharing ur recipies i enjoyed all the dishes specially ur pulutan recipe. Now all my friends hangs-out at my crib just to taste ur delicious beef mechado and sisig. More power to you and God bless.
Ben,
Reno, Nv
Jess says
hi,
i must say this site is very impressive. thank you very much. i have not tried yet the recipes but i surely will because i love filipino foods. i am away from the philippines and its really hard to live away from the filipino foods that our relative and family or from the restaurant prepares.
so again thanks. i will start with the beef mechado and later on the rest of the recipes..
more power to you.
Ramon says
Pare naglalagay kba nang MSG?
Jing says
I normally don’t cook but you inspire me and motivate me to do it…I have tried some of your recipes and I have been successful…thanks
chelle says
Hi, I’m just wondering kung ano po yung type nun beef na madaming litid? Litid makes caldereta/mechado even more tastier. Natry ko na po yung ibang type ng beef and it’s kind of dry. thanks! 🙂
JanB says
I tried this recipe last night using ground pork since that was all I had. The addition of lemon is wonderful idea. This will be a regular dish for us. Thank you so much for this recipe and your YouTube videos too. I am a visual person so I really do appreciate the videos! Keep up the good work.
Michael Janapin says
Hello,
Thanks for this recipe. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. I usually dread to cook sauce-based food. Now that I saw your video, I’ll go ahead and give it a try. 😉
Arlene says
I tried this recipe today and it was DELICIOUS!! That slice of lemon made the HUGE difference. Love it!
ebbot says
hi chef! thanks so much for this website and for all your recipes! i am not a gifted cook so i really have to cook “by-the-book” but watching your videos gives me the confidence of natural cooks like my Mom, Ate and Kuya! your effort and generosity is very much appreciated! God bless you!
desiree says
So yummy… thank you for sharing your expertise to us!
sharon says
Anytime I need a filipino recipe I always tune in to your videos on youtube.
It always comes out tasting the way I think they should taste..similar to my moms cooking=)
this was my first time making mechado and the youtube tutorial
was very helpful! I did not have lemon handy tho, so to improvise I just added a tad of
concentrated calamansi, and it turned out very well..thank you for all your recipes!
luis castillo says
i loVE it……
Ouji L Von Preussen says
I found the Recipe easy to follow and very well written. I however cooked my Version in a slow cooker. It came out fantastic and everyone was thrilled. I rarely cook because of failing health, but when I do I enjoy delicious Foods like this very much. Salamat and all the best to you from California, USA
Debra says
I can’t wait to try this!
How long do you cook this in your pressure cooker?
And how long would you cook this in a slow cooker?
Vina says
Its my 1st time to cook Mechado and my kids love it! Thanks for sharing the recipe.