Bistek Pinoy!

As the sun shows her beauty and brilliance through out the days this week in our place, I can't stop thinking about bistek and eating it on a sunny summer lunch. Now what is Bistek? According to Wikipedia it  is a Philippine dish typically made with onions and strips of sirloin beef slowly cooked in soy sauce, and calamansi juice. Obvious in rhyme or similarity bistek got its name from the English words Beef and Steak. So Bistek is actually a Filipino style beef steak. Getting a recipe from some cookbook, I got in to cooking one myself and started to make my own variation on this delectable dish.

So here are the ingredients, 

• Beef sirloin or tenderloin, thinly sliced and pounded.
• Freshly squeezed calamansi or lemon juice.
• Soy sauce.
• Garlic.
• Crushed ginger.
• Ground black pepper.
• Sliced onions.
• Olive oil.
• Julienned red bell pepper.

So after getting all the ingredients, I got myself ready and started to do what was needed,

• Mix the soy sauce, calamansi juice, garlic, pepper, bell pepper, and onions.  
• Then marinate the meat in the mixture for about 45 minutes to an hour.
• Ready a frying pan with olive oil. And fry the marinated beef until it's tender and brown.
• When it's brown already, add the marinade as it will serve as the sauce or base of the dish.
• Add the sliced onions and continue to cook for another minute.
• Serve hot with rice - and a lot of it.
• Enjoy on a hot summer day! 

Whenever Bistek is served on our dining table, I would immediately rush out to get a lot of rice, get some bistek and drizzle the bistek sauce on the rice. Sharing food is one of the best ways to unite a family and foster friendship. Even on times of crises, people will always need food to survive and if you want great food and hospitality - nothing beats The Philippines.