Bistek

Name: How to cook Bistek - cookcic.com
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Us

Introduce

Chef :

Robert Gonzal

Bistek

Bistek is the Filipino version of steak and onions. The meat is sliced into strips, then marinated in a savoury blend of soy sauce and calamansi, a tropical fruit similar to lime. It's then cooked in the marinade, sometimes for up to an hour, then served with sliced onions that are so lightly fried they're barely past raw. Mine's a little different. First, I don't have access to fresh calamansi, so I used a combo of lime and lemon instead. Second, I added a couple of extra aromatics to round out the flavour. And third, I didn't cook the steak forever, because why would you? There are a couple of other minor changes as well, which I'll point out below. All differences aside the final dish was still undeniably bistek, and totally delicious.

Ingredient

Food ration :

4 servings

Cooking time :

30 minutes

450 g

flank steak (or other steak of your choice), sliced thin

1 tbsp

fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp

fresh lime juice

1/2 cup

soy sauce

1/2 tsp

baking soda

1 tbsp

minced garlic

1 tbsp

minced ginger

1 tsp

sugar

Cooking instructions

* Step 1

Put the steak strips in a bowl and add the soy sauce, citrus juices, baking soda, and several grinds of black pepper. Mix thoroughly and leave to sit for 20 minutes. The baking soda will coat the meat fibers and prevent them from clumping together, tenderizing them beef.

* Step 2

Add a splash of veg oil to a wok on high heat. Throw in the onions and let fry about 2 minutes. Remove half the onions to a serving plate and keep frying the remainder an extra 10 minutes until they start to caramelize, giving your a nice contrast in the onions. Once they're done, also remove them to the serving plate.

* Step 3

Refresh the oil in the wok and add all the meat at once. Do not add the marinade. Fry the meat until halfway cooked. It will release a lot of liquid; don't worry about it because it'll become sauce. Add the garlic and ginger and continue cooking another minute or two. Sprinkle in the sugar and give it a taste. Be careful about adding any extra salt at this point because you're still going to reduce the sauce. Once the seasoning's good, remove the meat to the serving plate.

* Step 4

Simmer the sauce until reduced by about half. Arrange your serving plate. I like to keep the lightly cooked onions on the bottom, with the meat above that, and the caramelized onions above them. Pour the sauce over everything and serve immediately with freshly steamed rice.

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