Bistek tagalog (Filipino beef steak)
Thin slices of beef simmered in a tangy soy, lemon and garlic sauce under a pile of sweet onion rings, spooned over rice.
- 60 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $4.19 a serving
- 550 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 lb sirloin steak
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ cups jasmine rice
- 2 yellow onions, sliced into rings
From your pantry
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2¾ cups water, divided
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- 1 tsp sugar
Each serving has about 550 calories, 32 g protein, 69 g carbs and 17 g fat, and costs about $4.19 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No sirloin steak? New York strip steak or ribeye steak works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Slice the beef across the grain as thin as you can, then flatten any thick with the bottom of a heavy pan.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Mix the soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic and pepper in a bowl, add the beef, and it in the fridge, covered, for 30 minutes.
Marinate. Marinating means letting food sit in a flavorful liquid, called a marinade, before you cook it. Always marinate in the fridge, and never reuse marinade from raw meat unless you boil it first.
How you’ll know: The food is coated all over, sealed in a bag or covered dish, and chilling in the fridge.
Timer: 30 min
Meanwhile, the rice and bring it with 2¼ cups of the water in a .
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook 15 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large over medium-high. Cook the onion rings 2 minutes, until just soft but still a little crisp, and move them to a plate.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min
Add the rest of the oil. Lift the beef out of the marinade, keeping the marinade, and it in one layer, in batches, about 1 minute a side, until browned.
Sear. Searing means cooking the outside of meat or fish in a hot pan, without moving it, until a deep brown crust forms. The crust is packed with flavor, and it only forms on a dry surface.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the moment it goes in, and it lets go of the pan on its own when the crust is ready.
High heatTimer: 2 min
Dolly’s tip: Let the pan get hot again between batches, or the beef turns gray instead of brown.Return all the beef, pour in the marinade, the last ½ cup of water and the sugar, and 5 minutes, until the beef is tender and the sauce a little.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Reduce. Reducing means simmering a liquid with the lid off so some of the water steams away. The sauce gets thicker and its flavor gets stronger.
How you’ll know: The level drops in the pan, and the sauce coats the back of a spoon instead of running off.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: The marinade had raw beef in it, so give it the full 5 minutes of bubbling.Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Lay the onion rings on top, cover, and let them warm for 1 minute.
Low heatTimer: 1 min
Fluff the rice and serve the beef and onions over it with plenty of the sauce.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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High-protein dinners ›Easy Filipino dinner recipes ›What to make with steak and rice ›