FTF: Easy Beef Gyudon

It all started with Yoshinoya's bowl of Beef Gyudon... It's really our favorite, especially when served with red ginger. One evening, my husband asked me if I know how to cook Gyudon. It's sort of a request too. I don't really know how, but for me, as long as I have the ingredients everything will follow. So I went online to search for the common Beef Gyudon recipe. It was a fast find with the right ppc management. The traditional Gyudon recipe is compose of real Japanese ingredients such us: sake or Japanese rice wine and mirin.

Gyudon or simply beef bowl is a dish of beef and onion served over a bowl of rice, often topped with raw egg. Gyū means beef, and don  for donburi, which is the Japanese word for bowl.
I found a video (which was great), my husband was dictating the procedure to me, while I prepare the ingredients.
Please take note:

• we substituted a mix of 1/4 cup white wine, 1/4 cup soy sauce and a teaspoon of sugar in replacement for sake and mirin.
• 1 tsp. of fresh minced ginger instead of powdered ginger
  

Even with the substituting made with some of the ingredients, our bowl of Beef Gyudon tasted exactly like the traditional Gyudon bowl. Thanks to this Easy one-pot Gyudon (beef bowl) video. It would have been perfect though if we have some pickled red ginger in stock. Which reminded me to visit a Japanese store as soon as possible.

Food Trip Friday

Genghis Khan

I made this dish out of curiosity. Just a few weeks ago, I was enjoying an International Buffet with my family. I was going through everything, and a dish called Genghis Khan caught my attention. As a food lover, I was also distinguishing the flavors. Believe me, it was served and presented like our ordinary braised beef and it looked plain like our regular beef steak without the onions.

A strong name for a simple looking dish, what more can you do but to try it yourself and find out what makes it different. I really mean it: you will be able to tell and distinguish the extraordinaryness of this dish once you have tasted it. Often prepared and cooked using a metal skillet inspired by a Mongolian Soldier's helmet, also known as the Mongolian, Barbecue Grill. Usually served with mixed  vegetables and noodles or may top  your hot rice.

I don't have my own recipe to share for this dish (promise I will work on it).

For now, this will do:Genghis Khan Recipe

Food Trip Friday--- Beef Mechado

It's nothing new, it's an old dish, an all-time favorite. Mechado is one of the dishes I always run through my weekly menu. I like it better than Kaldereta.

My Beef Mechado Recipe

Food Trip Friday

Callos

Filipino tripe dish cooked in tomato sauce, sausage, chickpeas, garbanzos, and for some, chorizo.

Ox's tripe is washed and cleaned properly. Boiled for two or three hours in water with salt. 

Recipe Here

Beef Salpicao

It's one of those nights when you want to eat something new using the very same ingredients of the regular viand served within the week. One thing I like about breakfast steaks is it's flexibility to become an all-around beef ingredient. I use breakfast steak for dishes like: Filipino Beef Steak, Beef Curry, Peppered Steak, Beef Broccoli and the latest ---Beef Salpicao.

Beef Salpicao also known as Stir-fried garlic beef.

My favorite Beef Salpicao version is the one from Slice N' Dice. Beef Strips combined with their special gravy sauce topped with mushrooms and roasted garlic.

I made my own version for dinner last night.

Basing it on how it tasted from a previous food adventure, I gladly say yes, I was able to nail the taste. The presentation? well, that depends on how you like you Beef Salpicao.

Servings: 3-4

Ingredients: (Marinate)
1/2 K beef (breakfast steak)
5 cloves of garlic chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 Calamondin Juice
1 packet of Splenda
a pinch of salt and ground pepper


Ingredients: (Actual Dish)
3 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
10 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbsp left-over marinate
1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp all purpose flour
21/2 cups water

How To:

Marinate beef in soy sauce, Calamondin juice, chopped garlic, splenda, salt and pepper for 1 hour.

DISH:

• After marinating, in a pan, simmer beef steak in 2 Cups of water until tender. Cut into strips then set aside with the excess sauce.

• In the very same pan, saute minced garlic in olive oil until golden brown.
• Add beef strips and excess sauce from boiling, stir for a few minutes.

note: excess sauce: the oil from the beef and water from boiling if there are any left in the pan. Add them all.

• Add butter. Keep stirring until melted. Low fire.
  
• In a cup, mix flour, 2tbsp marinate and 1/2 cup water and mix until well-blended
• Add mixture with the beef
• Add salt and pepper to taste
  

I prefer mixing the garlic with the beef than using it as a topping. It makes the dish more delicious and tasty.

You can add button mushrooms too.

Note: I didn't use beef cubes. I boiled the meat to extract it's flavor. Using the old-fashioned way is healthier.

Left- Over Magic---Ampalaya Con Carne

Left over magic. Well we all get into the situation when we end up having so much left-overs. With my experience, even when I was a kid, my mom would make a new dish out of some left-overs (still edible and in perfect condition) that she can find in the fridge.

At home, we often find ourselves preparing a recipe more than what it can originally yield. We Filipinos have the habit of eating more than 3x a day, aside from the snacks we take in- between. Left-overs plays a very big part in our kitchen.

Remember my Food Trip Friday entry for this week? Braised Beef I actually cooked a recipe that will serve 6 people.

Using some of our beef left-overs, I was able to cook a very healthy dish. I added slices of Ampalaya or Bitter Gourd, ended up with Ampalaya Con Carne.

Ingredients:

5 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 medium red tomatoes (cut into quarters)
Left-over braised beef ( a full bowl)
2 medium Ampalaya (sliced into pieces)

Saute garlic in olive oil until medium brown
Add onion and tomatoes, stir for a few seconds
Add left- over beef with sauce (pour everything!)
Stir for a few seconds
Add slices of Ampalaya.
Stir until Ampalaya is cooked (not overly done)
A dash of salt and pepper.

Serving: 3-4

Note: The # of servings will depend on the amount of beef (left-overs used)

Braised Beef

I went online to look for the right process of Braising Beef. The one I found was explained properly. You can see it here: Braising Beef

Ingredients:

Chunks of beef (tenderized)(Mechado Cut)
2 medium carrots (chopped)
1 Medium white onion (chopped)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups beef stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tsp all purpose flour
salt and pepper

How to:

After tenderizing the beef, set aside the beef stock.
In a pan, saute beef and carrots until the meat is a bit brown.
Add beef stock. Simmer for a few minutes or until the carrots are cooked or according to your desired preference.
Combine flour with the soy sauce stir while pouring it in with the rest of the ingredients.
Add white onions and stir for a few seconds.
Lastly, add salt and pepper to taste.

Servings: 5-6

I adjusted the recipe and procedure to the available ingredients I presently have. If you're going to take a look at the real process, it is as easy as 1,2,3.

Happy Eating and Have a Yummy-full weekend!

Food Trip Friday--- Beefy Goodness

2 mouth- watering Easy Beef dishes.
Beef Curry

Ingredients:

1/2 K beef strips

1 medium carrot (chopped)

3 medium potatoes (chopped into quarters)

1 green bell pepper (chopped)

5 cloves garlic minced

1 medium onion chopped

1 tsp ginger minced

1/2 C fresh milk

1 C water

1 1/2 tbsp curry powder

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

How To:

Saute garlic, onion, ginger in olive oil.

Add beef strips. Stir until half cooked.

Add 1C water. Simmer until beef is cooked.

Add potatoes, carrots. Simmer until vegetables are half-cooked.

Add milk and curry powder. Simmer until all are well done and to reduce sauce.

Salt and pepper to taste.

SERVINGS: 4-5

All -Natural Beef Caldereta

Now a days, easy to mix powdered ingredients are being used in preparing our favorite home-cooked meals. It can make our prep easier, but it is killing our health slowly. Just imagine the preservatives used in order to preserve such powdered mixture. Worse, we don't really know if the ingredients indicated are real. Caldereta is one Filipino dish that I just recently learned to prepare the old-fashioned way. But easy.

Ingredients:

1/2 K beef cubes

1/2 C tomato sauce

2 cups beef broth

3 medium potatoes (chopped into quarters)

2 medium carrots chopped

1 red bell pepper chopped

5 cloves garlic minced

1 medium onion chopped

1/2 tsp whole pepper corn

4-5 pcs. dried bay leaves

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

1 /2 small packet of equal or 1/2 tsp sugar

salt and ground pepper

How To:

Boil beef cubes ahead until tender. Set aside beef broth.

In a separate sauce pan, saute garlic and onion in olive oil.

Add tenderized beef. Saute until beef is a bit brown.

Add potatoes and carrots. Saute again for another minute.

Add 2 cups of beef broth and whole pepper. Simmer until vegetables are cooked.

Add tomato sauce, soy sauce, red bell pepper and bay leaves.

Simmer until sauce is a bit thick.

Salt and and ground pepper to taste.

SERVINGS: 5-6

These has been my food trip for 2 consecutive Fridays. How about you? Go to: Food Trip Friday

Spicy Beef Strips

Been figuring out a beef strip dish the whole week. Beef strips (sirloin strips) are the easiest to cook. Meat tenderizer is not needed as long as the meat is fresh.

What You Will Be Needing:

1/2 K Sirloin Beef

1 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp worsteshire sauce

1/4 cup vinegar or calamansi juice

1/2 small packet of Equal

2 pinches of salt and pepper

5 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp ginger strips

green chili (chopped) or 1/2 tsp chili powder

scallions chopped

1 medium green bell pepper (sliced)

button mushrooms (optional)

oil for sauteing

1/2 cup water

How To:

For 3 -4 hours, marinate beef strips in soysauce, vinegar, sweetener, garlic, salt and pepper.

Boil beef strips in 1/2 cup water until cooked.

Set aside.In a seperate pan, saute mixed, chopped veggies. (And chili powder).

Add beef strips and worsteshirs sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

The hotter the better! Join us Food Trippers at Food Trip Friday

Filipino Tapa

Originally, Tapa is the name of a wide variety of appetizers in the Spanish cuisine. It is a traditional dish of salt-cured beef, fried and eaten as a full meal, usually for breakfast with garlic-fried rice and fried eggs, along with a chili-vinegar dip.

There is also a sweet variant of tapa, with the sugar added. Anotheris the (wet) type, which has strips of beef cooked in water, vinegar, and soy sauce and flavored with calamansi, garlic, and sugar.The ingredients and preparation are almost the same with the Filipino Beef Steak. Only, my tapa recipe has artificial sweetner in it, instead of sugar.

What You Will Be Needing:

1/2 K Sirloin Beef ( Beef Steak cut is good)

1 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup Calamansi juice ( i like it on my steak)

3 small packets of Equal

2 pinches of salt and pepper

2 tbsp vinegar

5 cloves garlic minced

How To:

Marinade

Cut beef into tiny pieces. If you're using beef steak cut, tenderize the meat first. Ask your local market meat vendor to cut your steak thinner than the usual.

In a container, mix the meat pieces with the rest of the ingredients.

Marinate over night.

Cooking

Separate meat from the marinade
In a frying pan put marinated meat and 1/4 cup water

Bring to boil until dry

Stir meat continuously until meat is cooked. Add oil if necessary

Best served with tomato and onion salad.
Most of the time we serve Tapa with sunny side up egg. We call the dish TAPSILOG (tapa, with sinangag (fried rice) and egg). It is served during breakfast in restaurants and at our very own homes.

Food Trip Friday---Braised Beef

Chinese Braised Beef

Recipe Here

Two ingredients I wasn't able to include in this recipe...Scallions and Fennel seeds or Sesame seeds.
Happy Food tripping!
Join Us at: Food Trip Friday

Kare-kare

Kare-kare is another Filipino dish made out of peanut sauce. Usually crushed peanuts or sometimes peanut butter. Mixed vegetables such as: String beans, egg plant, pechay, puso ng saging (banana flower bud).

Stewed oxtail, ox tripe, pork or beef meat as main. Best eaten with shrimp paste.

Prep:

Oxtail, with the skin on and cut into 2-inch lengths, and ox tripe are boiled until tender. Sometimes pieces of ox feet or shins are added. In some varieties, other types of meat are used, such as pork or (rarely) chicken (there is an instance of one version omitting the meat altogether and using vegetables). When the meat is tender, the soup becomes glutinous and to this is added ground roasted peanuts (or peanut butter), ground roasted glutinous rice to make the soup thicker. Atsuete (annatto) is added to give color. The basic vegetables for kare-kare include young banana flower bud or "heart" (puso ng saging), eggplant, string beans, and Chinese cabbage (pechay). Kare-kare is often served hot with special bagoong alamang (sauteed salted shrimp paste). -source-

Beef Broccoli

This is considered to be an easy Beef Recipe. Since the only beef part I have is the one used for Mechado. After tenderizing it, I sliced it into strips.

What you will be needing:

1/2 kilo beef
2 medium heads broccoli (chopped to your desired shape and size)
4 tablespoons soysauce
1 can straw mushrooms (shitake or any mushroom of your choice is perfect)
5 cloves garlic (minced)
1 medium onion (chopped)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Thickening agent:
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup water

How to:
After tenderizing the meat. Slice into thin strips. Set aside the broth
In a separate pan, saute garlic and onion
Add sliced meat and mushrooms. Stir for a few seconds.
Add broth just enough to cover half of the ingredients.
Add soysauce. Simmer for a few seconds.
Add broccoli. Stir and add broth.

note: if you want to have plenty of sauce (like mine), you can add the rest of the broth

Don't over cook broccoli.
Add thickening agent
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Servings: 4-5

HAPPY EATING!