Bistek Tagalog

There is one thing to take notice on the recipe and that is the beef selection. If you want to elevate this dish, go with beef tenderloin. Otherwise, stick to top sirloin lightly tenderized with a meat mallet.

Start, as always, by preparing all of your ingredients. Oftentimes it is easier to freeze the meat slightly for easier slicing and more control over the thickness of the slices. Keep that in mind.

Once your beef, onions, and garlic are all set, then it is time to get to work. What I love about this is not only the flavor in this dish, but how quick it is to get it to the table.

In a mixing bowl, add soy sauce, lemon and lime juice, garlic, and black pepper. Add sliced beef and massage the meat, really getting that marinade into the beef. You can let this marinate for hours if you want, but just 10 minutes should work fine. Set aside.

Heat a very large skillet on medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the canola oil and let it begin to shimmer. Toss in the 3/4 of the onions; reduce the heat a bit and cook for about 5 minutes. I like the onions to still have a bit of bite, so I only cook them a few minutes in the skillet. You do not want to overcook these until they are limp, but definitely not still raw.

Remove onions from skillet and onto a plate, and set aside.

Get the skillet back on the stove on medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil. With a slotted spoon, remove beef and garlic from the bowl and into the skillet, reserving the marinade.

Cook beef for about 4 minutes each side. Once cooked and a bit seared on each side, add the marinade, along with any remaining garlic in there, as well as the water, and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and cook for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, uncover, and top with the slightly cooked onions. Give this a good stir, and cook for about 5 more minutes.

Now you are ready to plate. You can do this two ways. Serve individually (what fun is that?) or serve family style. I go family style. Pour the beef mixture into a large serving bowl and garnish with the reserved raw onions on the top, while adding cooked jasmine rice to another serving bowl.

Plate with rice, and top with Bistek Tagalog. The flavors are out of this world. The tender beef along with those onions and garlic … whoa, watch out people! This is not only loaded with flavor, but the beef should be super tender, and the onions slightly crunchy and pungent, phenomenal with sweet, cooked jasmine rice. Enjoy!