Recipe for Philippine Beef Tapa – Favorite Food in Filipino Breakfast

Tapa or beef tapa is a Philippine dish of cured beef.

It is sliced thinly and then cured in sea salt and spices, natural preservatives that make the food stay well even in the Philippines’ tropical climate.

Filipinos love to eat tapa for breakfast.

They enjoy it with sinangag or fried rice, egg or itlog, and a dip of either vinegar or achara or pickled papaya strips.

Filipinos call a breakfast of tapa with egg and fried rice a tapsilog, a reference to the first syllables of tapa or beef, sinangag or fried rice, and itlog or egg.

So popular are tapa and tapsilog in the Philippines that they have spawned a menu of full meals that Filipinos fondly call silogs.

These meals include:

• Bangsilog – bangus or milkfish, fried rice, and fried egg
• Bisteksilog – bistek or beef steak, fried rice, and fried egg
• Cornsilog – corned beef, fried rice, and fried egg
• Daingsilog – daing or dried salted fish, fried rice, and fried egg
• Dangsilog – danggit or rabbitfish, fried rice, and fried egg
• Hotsilog – hotdog, fried rice, and fried egg
• Longsilog – longganisa or Philippine sausage, fried rice, and fried egg
• Pakaplog – pandesal or Philippine salt bread, kape or coffee, and fried egg
• Silog – fried rice and fried egg
• Tocilog – tocino or pork fatback, fried rice, and fried egg

The popularity of tapa, tapsilog and other silogs has created a cottage industry in the Philippines – from small-sized eateries to restaurants.

These places are called tapsihan or silogan, again a reference to the meals that are served there.

Many tapsihan and silogan in the Philippines open really early in the morning to accommodate diners who want to have a quick yet full meal before heading to work or school.

These tapsihan and silogan usually close late at night or even operate round the clock as more and more Filipinos prefer to eat beef tapa and silog for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The prices of beef tapa and silog at tapsihan and silogan are quite reasonable, making these places popular among people from all walks of life.

Ingredients for Cooking Beef Tapa or Tapa

• beef – 1 pound; sirloin part; sliced into thin cuts
• black pepper – 1 teaspoon; ground
• garlic – 3 tablespoons; minced
• salt – 1 teaspoon
• soy sauce – 1 cup
• sugar – 2 tablespoons

Materials for Cooking Beef Tapa or Tapa

• plastic bowl
• pan

Instructions for Marinating Beef Tapa or Tapa

1. In a plastic bowl, put in soy sauce, sugar, garlic, salt, and pepper.
2. Mix everything thoroughly.
3. Add in the beef into the bowl.
4. Marinade and refrigerate beef for over 12 hours.
5. After about 12 hours, defrost beef.

Instructions for Cooking Beef Tapa or Tapa

1. In a pan set over medium heat, pour in water.
2. Allow water to boil.
3. Pour in cooking oil.
4. Place in beef.
5. Cook beef until water evaporates and only the oil is left to fry the beef.
6. Transfer the beef onto a plate.
7. Serve the beef with fried rice, pickled papaya strips and/or vinegar.

Now enjoy your genuine Philippine beef tapa!

Copyright © 2012 Kerlyn Bautista

All Rights Reserved

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