Filipino style Beef steak
Without question, one of the best things about Filipino food is how perfectly it can pair with a heaping cup of rice. Our favorite national carb, many of our meals simply wouldn’t be complete without it! The humble white rice is almost always a go-to companion for several classic Filipino dishes, and this comes as…
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Without question, one of the best things about Filipino food is how perfectly it can pair with a heaping cup of rice. Our favorite national carb, many of our meals simply wouldn’t be complete without it! The humble white rice is almost always a go-to companion for several classic Filipino dishes, and this comes as no surprise given how great and adaptable a companion it is. With dishes like ours that are almost always saucy and flavorful, rice easily soaks all those tastes up, making every bite more satisfying. And with this Filipino style beef steak, that’s almost always definitely the case!
Thin slices of beef marinated to perfection: this and more are what you can expect from a timeless beef steak! Beef steak is a dish rooted in nostalgia; it is a staple in many childhood homes. This is largely due in part to how simple the ingredients are and, even better, the cooking process too! Whether you call it beef steak, bistek as so many others fondly refer to it as, or even karne frita like in the Western Visayas region, this hearty, braised goodness is certainly welcome at any dining table.
What does Filipino style beef steak taste like?
Everyone loves a good piece of steak, right? There’s nothing like biting into a perfectly cooked slice of juicy, succulent, hearty meat. Thankfully, beef steak gives you just that — and more! Staying true to our Filipino roots, beef steak’s crowd pleasing ability is the punchiness and strength of its flavors. Maybe you’re getting the sweetness of your onions and brown sugar, or the slight tartness the lemon brings. Or, maybe it’s the overarching soy sauce and its umami taste you so gravitate towards. Whatever it is that has you hooked on beef steak, it’s definitely effective enough that you keep coming back for more!
Tips & Tricks
Is this your first time making Filipino style beef steak? No need to worry! You can make this simple recipe even simpler when you have a few other tips and tricks up your sleeve!
- Cook low and slow
- Pan frying is best
- You can swap out your meat
- Trade for your tanginess
Cooking Tips for your Filipino Style Beef Steak
- Cook low and slow. The most important part of making your beef steak is ensuring that your dish is both flavorful and tender. While it can be tasty, having meat that’s tough and chewy may make your dish somewhat less than satisfying. Take your time in letting your beef cook, and add more water if necessary once it’s in the pot with your Knorr Beef Cube. Also, be sure not to turn the heat up too much, and keep it low and steady all throughout.
- Pan frying is best. But even before you bring your beef and other ingredients to a boil, it’s always a good idea to pan fry your beef first! This comes right after marinating, to ensure that you really get all those tasty flavors of your beef steak ingrained into your meat. You need only do this for a minute on each side before taking it off the pan.
- Want to try something new? Swap out your meat! We all know that beef is definitely delicious. But if you’re looking for those flavors but not necessarily in beef form, a switch up in protein is never a bad idea! You can opt for pork, fish, or even tofu for those who want to go the meatless route. In changing your main meat, you get the same delicious beef steak taste — just in a different way!
- Trading for your tanginess. Another thing you can also swap out is your source of sourness! The tanginess in beef steak really cuts through the overwhelming savory notes of your soy sauce. It gives it that extra depth of flavor that you and your family will most surely notice and appreciate. Instead of lemons, you can opt to use calamansi or even lime, according to your preference.
How to Make Filipino Style Beef Steak
To make Filipino style beef steak, we start with a flavorful and necessary marinade. Soy sauce, half a lemon’s juice, and half a teaspoon of cracked peppercorn go into a bowl. Mix these together with your thin slices of beef until you’ve coated every slice all the way. Then, refrigerate it for at least one hour to allow all those flavors to properly soak throughout; the result is most definitely worth the wait. After an hour, heat some cooking oil in a pan and fry each side of your marinated beef for about a minute. Remove it, set it aside, but keep your oil and add more if necessary for the next part.
Take half of your onions and your garlic, sautéing them until the former softens. Once it does, you can add your beef slices back into the pan, sautéing for about a minute. Pour in one and a half cups of water into the pan, bringing your liquid to a boil as you cover it. For extra flavor, add one Knorr Beef Cube, then bring the heat down low. Like we said earlier, cook for about 40 minutes on this low, slow heat, and really allow your dish to take its time. You can also add more water if necessary.
When your time is up, add the other half of your onions, and season with cracked peppercorn and brown sugar. If you’re the type to like your beef steak saucier and more viscous — like me! — mix cornstarch and three tablespoons of water to make a slurry. Pour it into the pan and stir until you’ve reached your desired thickness.
Turn the heat off and transfer your Filipino Style Beef Steak to a serving bowl. Serve it alongside hearty warm white rice, and enjoy with the rest of your family!
You won’t believe how delicious this Filipino Style Beef Steak is! Let us know what you thought in the comments below.
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag us on Instagram at @panlasangpinoy or hashtag #panlasangpinoy so we can see your creations!
Filipino Style Beef Steak
Ingredients
Instructions
- Combine beef, soy sauce, juice from ½ lemon, and ½ teaspoon cracked peppercorn in a bowl. Mix well. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Heat cooking oil in a pan. Fry each side of the marinated beef for 1 minute. Remove and set aside.
- Using the remaining oil (you can add more if needed), sauté half of the onion and add the garlic.
- Put the beef in the pan once the onion softens. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Pour 1 ½ cups of water into the pan. Cover and let the liquid boil.
- Add Knorr Beef Cube. Cover the pan and then adjust the heat to a low setting. Cook for up to 40 minutes. Note: add more water as needed.
- Add remaining onion and season with cracked peppercorn and add brown sugar.
- Make the sauce thicker by pouring-in the slurry. Do this by mixing cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water.
- Once the sauce gets thick enough, you may turn the heat off and transfer your Filipino Style Beef Steak to a serving bowl.
- Serve with warm rice. Share and enjoy!
Notes
- Use lean and tender cuts of beef. Tenderloin works best, so does sirloin. Slice it thinly for best results.
- Onions are sliced into rings. This is how this dish is traditionally prepared. I use 2 onions for this recipe. The first is used for sauteing . I add the rings of the second onion at the end of the cooking process. The more onion you add, the better the result will be.
- I used minced garlic in this recipe. Finer cuts of garlic are better in my opinion. It should not be visible. Do not get me wrong, we still need that garlicky flavor, but the onions should stand out.
- Crushed peppercorn is used in the recipe. You can also use ground black pepper or ground white pepper.
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