Name: Bistek tagalog (Filipino beef steak) with charred sawsawan red onions
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 - 6
Ingredients: Lemon-infused extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling; 1 Redlove apple (see note), thinly sliced; 1 pink grapefruit, segmented; Pickled green chillies, watercress, baby red vein sorrel, and charred tortillas, to serve; Bistek tagalog cure; 500 gm each rock salt and brown sugar; 6 fresh bay leaves; 4 garlic cloves; 2 lemons, finely grated on a Microplane; 1 tbsp peppercorns; 3 limes, finely grated on a Microplane; 800 gm centre-cut beef eye fillet, trimmed; Charred sawsawan red onions; 6 small red onion, halved; 100 ml light soy sauce; 60 ml (¼ cup) lime juice; 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar; 3 tsp finely grated ginger; 1 long red chilli, thinly sliced

Bistek tagalog (Filipino beef steak) with charred sawsawan red onions

Our reinvented version of Filipino beef steak is a colourful dish bursting with robust and punchy flavours.

Bistek tagalog recipe of Cured beef with charred sawsawan red onions.

Serves 4 - 6

Prep

25M

Cook

25M

Total

50M

Bistek tagalog is thinly sliced cured beef. GT‘s senior food editor Dominic Smith recalls how his Filipino mother Lola would serve it with sawsawan, a dip made with vinegar, garlic, and onion. “Each family has their own version,” says Smith. The charred tortillas are an ode to Lola’s savoury riff on playa, a sweet Filipino flat bread.

Ingredients

Lemon-infused extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

1 Redlove apple (see note), thinly sliced

1 pink grapefruit, segmented

Pickled green chillies, watercress, baby red vein sorrel, and charred tortillas, to serve

Bistek tagalog cure

500 gm each rock salt and brown sugar

6 fresh bay leaves

4 garlic cloves

2 lemons, finely grated on a Microplane

1 tbsp peppercorns

3 limes, finely grated on a Microplane

800 gm centre-cut beef eye fillet, trimmed

Charred sawsawan red onions

6 small red onion, halved

100 ml light soy sauce

60 ml (¼ cup) lime juice

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

3 tsp finely grated ginger

1 long red chilli, thinly sliced

Method

1.For bistek tagalog cure, place ingredients except beef in a large container and mix to combine. Add beef and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate to cure for 8 hours or overnight. The longer you leave it the saltier and more intense the flavours will be. Wipe excess cure from beef and bring to room temperature; discard cure.

2.Preheat a lightly greased barbecue or char-grill pan to high heat. For sawsawan, barbecue onions, cut-side down until blackened (10-12 minutes); set aside. Place remaining ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine; add onions. Keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

3.Drizzle beef with lemon-infused extra-virgin olive oil; barbecue, turning frequently, until charred all over and cooked to rare (8-10 minutes); rest 5 minutes before slicing thinly.

4.To serve, place sliced beef in a large bowl with a little of the sawsawan dressing and toss to combine. Layer on a serving platter with slices of apple and grapefruit segments. Scatter with charred sawsawan red onions, pickled green chillies, watercress and sorrel, then drizzle with lemon-infused extra-virgin olive oil. Serve with charred tortillas on the side.