Beef Tapa (Filipino dish)

Beef Tapa - made August 16, 2019 from Foxy Folksy

I haven't really been baking lately because of the weight loss challenge at work and trying to eat healthier and/or count calories, whatever gets me through the day. I'm having doubts I'll actually win this challenge as some of my coworkers are kicking my ass so far. I'm placing in the top 5 each week (so far) but only the top 3 get any prize so being #4 or #5 isn't going to do me much good, challenge-wise.

But, my competitive nature aside, I can't lose sight of the fact that I am losing weight. I plateau'd for almost the past 2 weeks, no matter how on track my eating was or how much I worked out. You can imagine my utter annoyance with that, especially since I actually was doing well with calorie counting and exercise. That annoyance drove me to switch to low carbing. Low carbing doesn't work for me in the long run but I wasn't talking until death to the scale but just enough to get off this plateau.

Three days in and the plateau broke so I can't be sorry. I don't know how long I'll keep it up but now that I'm down 8 lbs (7.8 more to go), I want to see how far I can last on it. I'm not talking Atkins Phase 1 low carbing as that's too drastic for me and you know I'll gain that weight back the minute I look at a piece of fruit or a noodle. But few enough carbs that I get more full on fat and protein and my calorie count naturally comes in lower. You actually can't overeat a Costco rotisserie chicken. Trust me, I might've tried.

But, since I was trying not to bake sweets and wanted more protein choices, I went searching for some of my favorite Filipino dishes to make. I don't often cook Filipino food. Or at all. But I was in the mood to try and I found this easy recipe for Tapa or beef. It's meant to be part of tapsilog, which is a common Filipino breakfast and is comprised of stir-fried beef (tapa or the "tap" part), garlic fried rice (siningag or the "si" part) and fried egg (itlog is the Tagalog word for egg or the "log" part) - hence tap-si-log. I love tapsilog. I love tocilog even more but that's the next post.

This isn't quite an authentic tapsilog since I left off the garlic fried rice for obvious reasons but I adhered to the tapa and the fried egg. You do have to plan ahead for this recipe but mostly because the meat needs to be marinated overnight. But the marinade itself is really simple to put together. I followed the author's suggestion to whack the beef slices with a meat mallet to tenderize them as I don't trust my beef choosing abilities to get a tender cut of meat or beef frying capabilities to keep it tender. So meat mallet whacking was extra insurance.

I used lemon juice in this recipe but if you have access to calamansi (think of calamansi as small, sweet Filipino lemons), using that instead of the lemon juice probably makes it a little more authentic. This was delicious, btw. Very flavorful with the garlic and the lemon. Don't overcook it or the meat will get tough. Just sear on high heat. It won't be fork tender (at least mine wasn't) but it isn't tough either; rather, it had a good chew like beef should have without overworking your jaws. And the flavor really can't be beat. The only thing that could make this better is to actually eat it like a true tapsilog, with garlic fried rice. Maybe in another 7.8 pounds. But OMG, I can actually cook a Filipino dish.

1/2 pound beef sirloin, sliced thinly
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon garlic, finely minced
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda, optional

1. With a meat mallet, pound each slice of meat until flattened to about 1/4" thick.
2. Place the beef into a bowl and sprinkle with baking soda. Mix until well blended.
3. Add lemon juice and mix. Add remaining ingredients and stir to coat evenly.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate beef in the refrigerator overnight.
5. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pan or skillet. Fry each side of the meat for 3-5 minutes or until browned and the liquid is absorbed. Add more oil as needed. Do not overcook.
6. Serve hot with fried eggs and garlic fried rice.