Bistek
For some reason bistek is commonly known as the Philippine version of the western-style beef steak. As for me I couldn’t find any similarity unless of course other people’s bistek is different from what I learnt from my folks. Nevertheless I love this dish – saucy, tangy what with the kalamansi flavor and oh so appetizing I couldn’t stop getting myself few more cups of extra rice to go with it.
The good thing about this Pinoy steak is that you don’t have to buy the most expensive parts like those from the loin. Not everyone can afford it anyway so the much less expensive and less tender but usually more flavorful are just fine. Cut the beef thinly and always remember to pound each slice lightly with the back of a kitchen knife to tenderize, and of course a little over than just few minutes of cooking time. It’s also a famous carinderia recipe.
What I had in mind actually is beef pares. This is already my 2nd attempt and my official tagatikim (food taster) thought what I did here is very similar to the one served in our favorite restaurant back home. Still we believe a stronger flavor would do the trick. My guess is star anise. I purposely omit it as we don’t really like too ‘Chinese’ tasting dish but I will definitely stir it in next time. I was also lazy to add in cornstarch to make thicker sauce so for the meantime, I will call this dish simply beef toppings. The hard-boiled egg in the photo? Well, I felt like I wanted to add some in the stew.
The serving was really huge that we almost couldn’t finish everything. The beef rendang was delicious but spicy that we decided to tapaw (take-out) half of it. We are not really a bunch of chilli lovers so for dinner, I did some make-over. I add onions, tomatoes, garlic and string beans plus a cup of water to the beef rendang to lessen the chili flavor. I also prepared deep-fried codfish fillet as I was inspired by my conversation w/ my cousin in Australia whom I chatted with thru YM. For some reason, we always end up talking about food every time we see each other online. He mentioned that a favorite down under is to oven-grill fish (I forgot, was it salmon?) marinated w/ lemon juice, salt & pepper.
what is there to say about nilagang baka or boiled beef? it’s a very simple dish that one misses when the weather is cold. still summer here in Beijing but what the heck? it’s like summer all year round back home anyways & we still love it (ofcourse the typhoons are always there).speaking of typhoons, let’s all save a prayer for