Beef Pares

Beef Pares is a dish that's quite common in Manila, but not so much here in San Pablo City. In fact, I've never seen it made and sold here. I could be wrong of course, but since I couldn't find it easily here, I thought I'd just cook it myself.

This is a recipe I came up with late last year. I'm putting it on this blog for my own future reference.

Recipe/Procedure


Boil 1 kilo beef for 3 hours until meat is very tender. Watch out because after 15-20 minutes dark brown scum will form on top. Remove it!

If using a pressure cooker, it's up to you how long you boil it. I don't have one so I have no idea...

After boiling, let it cool then refrigerate for a couple of hours. Fat will solidify on top of the liquid... remove it!

Drain from broth but don't throw broth away. Marinate beef in 1/2 cup soy sauce, pepper and 1/2 cup sugar. Marinate overnight!

Sautee 1 bulb crushed garlic, 1 big onion and around 1 inch grated ginger. Place beef. Let it fry a bit. Place broth, and let simmer for a while. Add back the marinade, and 2 pcs. star anise. Boil some more. Add salt to taste.

Dissolve a tablespoon of cornstarch in 1/2 cup of broth and place slowly over stew while stirring. Once the sauce is thickened, this is done. Optional: Before serving, add a few drops of sesame oil.

Make sure to remove the star anise before serving so no one gets to bite on it.

For the soup: You can get this from the extra broth. Just remove any remaining scum, reheat and add salt (to taste), and before serving, mix in a few drops of sesame oil and chopped green onion.

For the fried rice: Fry chopped garlic in a wok until it's slightly browned. Add 1 pc. chopped chorizo. Let it fry a bit. Add 2 battered eggs. Mix it around until egg is cooked. Add cooked rice and salt to taste. Mix for around 5 minutes. Before serving add chopped green onion.

For toasted garlic (you can prepare this earlier): Chop one bulb of garlic very very finely. Fry in oil using very very very low heat. You don't want to rush this. This is toasted slowly so that it won't be too bitter. It will probably take 15-20 minutes before the garlic is browned enough. Remove from oil and drain on some paper towels.

On the serving plate just add the garlic and some more chopped green onion on top.