Tapsilog

It’s Valentine’s Day next Monday! For this week, Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner will be featuring Pinoy recipes that you can prepare for your family on Valentine’s Day, i.e., for breakfast, lunch, merienda(snack) and dinner. There will be dessert recipes too!

First recipe is Tapsilog which you can serve for breakfast on Valentine’s Day.

Tapsilog is an all-time favorite breakfast in the Philippines. It is the shortcut for Tapa (fried cured beef strips), Sinangag (garlic fried rice) at Itlog (egg) combined into one meal. Although it is considered as breakfast food, it is commonly sold throughout the day in Philippine turo-turo eateries. (The word Turo (to-roh) in Filipino literally means "point," and turo-turo refers to the many roadside eateries in the Philippines, where diners just point to the dish they want from the wide selection of cooked food displayed on a table.)

Here’s my hearty Tapsilog recipe for breakfast that will get your family off to a good start on Valentine’s Day!

Ingredients:

*Breakfast for 4

For Tapa or Cured Beef Strips (a little sweet version):

• 1 lb beef sirloin, cut into very thin strips then tenderized (Each strip is to be 4 to 5 inches long and about 2 inches wide)
• 1 head garlic,  minced
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 4 Tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp black pepper

 For Sinangag or Garlic Fried Rice:

• 4 cups cooked rice
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• Salt to taste

For Fried Egg or Pritong Itlog:

• 4  eggs
• Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Put the soy sauce, vinegar, minced garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a bowl or in a freezer bag. Mix it well.

2. Add meat. Let it marinate overnight, or at least 1 hr.

3. When done marinating, drain then fry the meat in a pan, with 2 Tbsp cooking oil, over medium low heat just until cooked through (or if you want, until crispy). Put 5-6 strips per plate. Set aside.

4. Make garlic fried rice in the same pan. Saute the garlic until golden brown. Add the rice. Break it down and mix it well, so the oil gets on all of the rice. Add salt to suit your taste. Fill a heart-shaped cup (or any cup if you don't have heart shaped ones) with rice. Put cup upside down on the plate beside the beef strips then lift. Garnish rice with fried garlic on top.

5. Serve with sunny-side up or scrambled egg. This is meant for Valentine’s Day breakfast so I made heart shaped sunny-side-up eggs. I used a heart shaped egg ring to shape the egg while being fried. If you don’t have one, you can just carefully trim the sides of the egg using a knife after frying (just do this if you want heart-shaped eggs). 
6. Serve with hot coffee or hot chocolate! 

* You can also serve it with slices of cucumber and/or tomatoes.

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