Bistek

Ingredients:

2 Lbs. Round Roast (lean beef)

1 Large red onion

1 Cup of soy sauce

1 Cup of water

7 Packets of frozen calamansi or fresh ones

½ Tbs. MSG

Corn oil for frying

In a large bowl marinate beef in soy sauce, water, calamansi, and msg for an hour. Heat frying pan and add 2 Tbs. of corn oil and fry meat in batches until they all have good sear marks on both sides. Remove meat from the pan and set aside. Repeat the process for the next batch. You will need to add more oil each time you fry more batches of meat. When you are done frying, add all the meat back into the frying pan and add the remaining marinade to the pan. Let it simmer for 5 minutes on medium heat and then add the onions and let cook for another minute. Serve with rice and enjoy your Bistek!

Tip 1:

When buying the meat, have your butcher slice the meat no thicker than 1/8 of an inch. If you have to slice it yourself and don’t have an electric meat slicer you may do so. The easiest way to do this is to partly freeze the meat. It will make it easier to slice thinly. Just make sure that you do not freeze it solid otherwise you will have to thaw it out and try to do it again.

Tip 2:

Pot roast meat is not the most tender cut of meat. Cutting the meat against the grain will make it more tender, although meat cut against the grain is not as presentable as it is when it is cut along the grain. Bistek meat is sliced very thinly so this is not going to be a big factor for this particular dish. As for myself, I cut mine along the grain. You decide which cut you prefer and let the butcher know before you have it sliced.