“Beef tapa is a popular Filipino dish that is made by marinating thinly sliced beef with salt and spices. It is an easy to make breakfast meal which is frequently served with garlic fried rice and fried egg also known as ‘tapsilog’.”

Beef tapa is a well love breakfast meal of Filipinos. It is commonly serve with garlic fried rice and fried egg to create a combo meal known as Tap-Si-Log (tapa, sinangag, itlog).

Although popular as breakfast dish, beef tapa can be serve anytime of the day.

This beef tapa recipe is simple to prepare and tastes far superior to store-bought versions. It is slightly sweet, salty and tangy. The ingredients are also straightforward and almost always available in your pantry.

This beef tapa is a delightful way to start the day, served with fresh chopped tomatoes and atchara (pickled green papaya).

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WHAT IS BEEF TAPA?

Tapa is a Filipino meal made with thinly sliced beef, chicken, pork, carabao, or game meat like deer or wild boar, although it can also be made from other meats or even fish. It was originally used to enhance the shelf life of meats.

Similar to beef jerky, the meat is customarily cured with salt and spices before being dried or smoked. The procedure has been simplified in recent years by just marinating the meat to impart flavor and omitting the drying step.

The seasoned beef is fried or grilled until soft and caramelized after preparation. It’s usually served as part of a typical Filipino tapsilog.

WHAT IS TAPSILOG?

Tapsilog is a balanced blend of sweet, sour, salty, and umami flavors. You’ll want to eat more because of the different flavors and textures.

The term tapsilog (tap-si-log) is derived from the tagalog words tapa, sinangag (garlic fried rice), and itlog (fried egg) and is typically eaten for breakfast.

This style of breakfast is known as “silog” in Filipino cuisine. Longsilog is used for longganisa (sausages), tocilog (sweet cured pork) is used for tocino, bangsilog is used for milkfish, and so on.

Only the accompanying meat vary; they are always served with sinangag (fried rice) and an egg (itlog).           

The “silog” meals are often served with atchara (pickled papaya strips) or sliced vegetables as a side dish (usually tomatoes and cucumber). As a condiment, vinegar (typically with siling labuyo) or ketchup are commonly used.

A tapahan, tapsihan, or tapsilugan is a Tagalog restaurant that specializes on tapa.

BEEF TAPA MARINADE INGREDIENTS

The beef tapa marinade composed of simple and easy to find ingredients. The marinade is a mix of sweet, salty, garlicky, and acidic tastes.

• Lemon juice – tenderizes meat by weakening surface proteins while also imparting a tart flavor. You can use other acidic agents such as calamansi juice or vinegar.
• Baking Soda – helps in tenderizing the beef. An optional ingredient but recommended.
• Soy sauce – is a brining agent that enhances savory flavors.
• Fresh garlic, minced – adds another layer of flavor. Fresh is preferable, but garlic powder can suffice in a hurry.
• Sugar – sweetens the marinade and helps the meat caramelize by balancing the acidic component.
• Salt – is used to season the meat and as a brining agent.
• Pepper – provides a spiciness to the dish.

HOW TO MAKE BEEF TAPA

Thinly slice your beef. This is to ensure that it cooks quickly while also preventing it from becoming tough from prolonged cooking.

Combine all the marinade ingredients. There are 2 ways in preparing the marinade. First is to combine all the ingredients over the beef. The second is to prepare the ingredients in a separate bowl before mixing in with the beef.

Tip: In the second option, you can easily adjust the sweetness, sourness, and spice level of the marinade. You add more sugar, calamansi or lemon juice, or a lot of pepper if you want it spicy.

Before adding the raw meat, taste the marinade. Once you are satisfied with the marinade, add the sliced beef and massage it into the marinade to properly coat it.

Refrigerate. Chill for at least six hours, preferably overnight. If you don’t plan on cooking them within 24 hours, you may also freeze them.

Drain marinate and fry. Remove the beef from the marinade before frying. Add oil to a frying pan over medium heat. Cook, flipping on sides, for 3 to 5 minutes or until browned, adding beef slices in a single layer.

Serve. Remove from pan and serve with garlic fried rice and fried egg to complete a meal.

PREPARATION AND COOKING TIPS

• Wash the beef with vinegar instead of water before using it. This is to remove dirt and blood and to prolong the shelf life.
• Use beef sirloin because it is extremely soft, and it just takes a few minutes to cook in a pan. This is to prevent overcooking the beef which makes the meat tough.
• It’s recommended to thinly slice the beef against the grain. (Muscle fibers are referred to as grain). Slicing meat not only makes it fit on your plate and in your mouth, but it also tenderizes it, makes it simpler to chew, and even enhances its flavor by exposing more surface area to your taste buds.
• Freeze the meat for a few minutes until somewhat stiff to make slicing easier. Please check out my beef bulgogi and beef with broccoli stir fry for more tips on slicing beef.
• Adding a pinch of baking soda to the meat helps tenderize the meat.
• You can also pound the meat with a mallet. Pounding has the added benefit of flattening the meat, allowing it to cook faster and more evenly.
• If the meat is marinated for an extended period of time, the acids in the marinade will denature the protein fibers, resulting in a mushy texture. If not cooking after 24 hours, you can freeze it.
• Though you could cook the beef after marinating it for at least 6 hours, but curing it overnight will bring out the tanginess that tapa is known for.
• If using tougher cuts, add about 1 cup of water and boil the tapa until soft before crisping and browning in oil.
• Cook the meat until tender and evenly browned, around 4-5 minutes maximum. Do not overcook or it will become tough to chew.

HOW TO SERVE

While tapa and tapsilog is most commonly associated with breakfast, it can be eaten at any time of day.

This beef tapa recipe have various flavors and textures combine to keep your taste buds begging for more. It offers the perfect balance of sweetness, tanginess and saltiness.

Adding fresh tomatoes and crisp cucumbers balance off the richness of the beef, fried egg, and garlic rice. A scattering of fried garlic adds crunch to the dish.

Also adding an atchara (pickled green papaya) and spicy vinegar dipping sauce (prepared by soaking fresh Thai chili in white vinegar) cuts through the fat to complete the dish.

MAKE AHEAD AND STORAGE

You can make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for breakfast the next day, or you can make more and freeze them after curing to enjoy for a few days or weeks.

You can use a ziplock to freeze the tapa and make many individual packs so you just have to thaw and cook what you need.

This beef tapa recipe will help you improve your cooking and food preparation skills while also saving you money. Who knows, this could turn out to be a lucrative business opportunity for you.

Try this recipe and let me know how it turns out. Happy tummy!

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