Gulf News' Your Ramadan Table' food show: Beef tapsilog
Chef John Buenaventura's favourite recipe, inspired by his mum's cooking
Preparation time: 45 to 60 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients
300 gms beef sirloin
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
50 gms garlic
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp liquid seasoning
1 to 2 Bird's Eye chillies (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Papaya atchara or pickled pappaya
200 gms raw papaya (grated)
100 gms carrots (grated)
300 ml white vinegar
100 gms white sugar
100 gms onions (sliced)
5 gms peppercorn
5 gms chilli (chopped)
Fried rice
200 gms rice (cooked)
40 ml corn oil
30 gm garlic
2 eggs (to shallow fry)
Method
Slice the sirloin into bite-sized pieces and set it aside. In a bowl, combine the thinly sliced beef with dark soy sauce, liquid seasoning, a tablespoon of sugar, black pepper, salt, chopped garlic, and chopped chillies. Let it marinate for an hour.
For the pickled papaya, grate the raw papaya and carrots and mix them with sliced onions, along with the finely chopped chillies. Keep it aside.
Combine white vinegar, sugar, turmeric powder, peppercorns, garlic, and water in a separate bowl. Boil the mixture and then add it to the papaya-carrot mix.
Marinate and store in the refrigerator.
To make fried garlic rice, chop the garlic and set it aside. In a pan, fry the chopped garlic in corn oil until golden brown. Remove the garlic and set it aside. Then, add day-old cooked jasmine rice to the pan, stirring until it sticks to the pan. Drizzle fish sauce and the fried garlic over the rice and combine well.
In a separate pan, shallow fry the beef in some corn oil, making sure not to overcook it. At the same time, shallow fry an egg until it has a crispy bottom.
To serve, plate a scoop of fried garlic rice with the beef and top it with the fried egg. Serve with sliced cucumber, carrots, and papaya atchara on the side.
Tips
Wagyu beef sirloin or Australian beef works well for this recipe.
For better taste, use Filipino soy sauce.
Use pinakurat vinegar or spiced cane vinegar instead of white vinegar if available.
Great food is like great love - it brings people together and leaves a lasting impression. My mum's cooking inspired this recipe, and I hope it brings as much joy to your table as it has to mine.
Join us for the next recipe tomorrow!
Do you have a favourite Ramadan recipe to share? Write to us at food@gulfnews.com.