One of the popular breakfast that is served in fast food resto and small eateries is Tapsilog – this meal is a combination of fried rice, fried tapang baka (cured beef) and fried egg, partner it with a hot cup of coffee or choco drink and your day is complete.

Instead of buying ready-to cook tapa which is quite expensive, I made my own at home. The procedure is very simple. All you need are:

• 1 kilo beef round or chuck cut
• 1 tsp saltpeter or salitre
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• minced garlic (optional)

Slice meat 1/2 inch thick, each piece about the size of the palm. Mix salt, salitre, sugar and minced garlic and rub it on meat surfaces. Store in a bowl 1 to 3 days turning meat over each day or let sit in a fridge 1 to 3 days. And it’s ready to cook. This can also be store in the freezer after curing for future use.

image fr. the net

Fiesta or no Fiesta, Kare-kare will always be part of the Filipino taste bud, no matter if they are here or in another country.

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo ox tripe (or beef shank and oxtail or a combination of the three)
• 200 gms peanut paste or  peanut butter
• 100 gms rice flour
• onion
• garlic
• atsuete (or orange food coloring if not available)
• Sauteed shrimp paste (ginisang bagoong) as side dip.

the vegetables:

• eggplant cut into 1/2 inch thick
• string beans (sitaw) cut 2 inches long
• pechay tagalog (bok choi)
  
• banana bud/heart (puso ng saging) (optional) – soak in salt and water after cutting to prevent darkening.

Method of cooking:

• In a casserole, boil ox tripe and add onion, cook until meat is tender.
• in a cup of water, dissolve peanut paste and rice flour and add to the meat and stock while stirring to prevent any lumps.
  
• simmer until the sauce is creamy and add the veggies starting with banana heart, string beans, eggplant and last is pechay. Do not overcook the veggies.
• Add the coloring and season with salt.

Serve with steamed rice and sauteed shrimp paste as side dip.

Variation: Beef shank and ox tail can be added.

Ox tongue in tomato sauce, it is a simple recipe, delicious and very timely for the coming holiday feast.

• 1 whole ox tongue
• 200 ml tomato sauce
• 1 med onion chopped
• 3 clove garlic minced
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 bell pepper slice thinly
• carrot cut or slice
• cooking oil
• salt to taste

• Boil ox tongue until tender, scrape the white top layer skin and slice into half inch thick. Set aside.
• In a pan saute garlic, onion and bell pepper.
• Add the cooked ox tongue and tomato sauce, simmer until the sauce thickens.
• Add carrot and season with salt and ground pepper.
• Continue cooking until the carrot is half-cooked. Add 1/2 cup of water if needed.

This is another version of Bulalo recipe far from the usual Bulalo that uses ox bone marrow and beef shank which have the same procedure and ingredients as Nilagang Baka. This one is different, with thick soup  and no  vegetables added.

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo Ox cheek skin or beef shank (cut cross-wise)
  
• onion
• garlic
  
• onion spring
• sibot – (herbs and spices) available in the market
  
• salt and pepper corn
  
• calamansi or lime juice
• soy sauce
  

Boil ox meat in 8 cups of water, chopped onion, pepper corn and sibot, simmer until the meat is tender and the soup stock thickens. Season with salt. In a separate pan, fried chopped garlic until golden brown, do not burn.

Serve Bulalo hot and topped with fried garlic and  chopped spring onion.

Mix calamansi or lime juice and soy sauce for the dip. You can add hot chili to the dip mixture to make it spicy.

Note: Sibot is a main ingredient in this recipe, without it the soup will taste bland.

We’ve heard of pork and beans, this one instead of pork I used ground beef. Almost the same procedure and ingredients.

• 1/4 kilo ground beef
• 1 cup cooked white beans or you can use canned beans
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 med-size onion chopped
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp. cooking oil
• 1 pc. bell pepper cut into squares
• salt and pepper to taste

• Saute garlic, onion and ground beef, add a cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes in low heat. Stir once in a while.
• Add beans, bell pepper and tomato sauce, continue simmering for at least another 5 minutes. (Add a little water if needed)
• Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 4-6

Variation: You can use jalapeño pepper if you like it a little spicy but remove the seed to reduce the heat.