I don’t remember anyone not liking this dish. I guess that’s because my friends are just too nice. But my wife always gives me that comical two thumbs-up sign between mouthfuls everytime I prepare this. You know what they say about cooks not being too hot about what they just cooked? Doesn’t apply to me. Especially not with this dish. This is just perfect for anytime of the day. Just be careful because you’ll end up eating bowls of rice with this one (well, for Filipinos mostly).
I started cooking this in its original form, and that would be using beef slices. But, since my wife doesn’t eat beef, I had to experiment with bangus (milk fish). It doesn’t sound right though since bistik (or bistek) is a Filipino way of saying “beef steak.” Should I call this bangstik instead?
You’ll need:
- 8 pcs of calamansi, cut in half, juices squeezed and without the seeds.
- 4 spoons of soy sauce
- 500 grams of beef sirloin, cut very thinly or a pack of boneless bangus belly cut into 5 or 6 parts
- minced garlic, lots of them
- 1 big onion, sliced into rings
- a spoon of margarine or butter
- a pinch or two of ground pepper
- cooking oil
Marinate the beef or bangus in a mixture of calamansi and soy sauce. Note that the ratio is 2 pieces of calamansi to 1 spoon of soy sauce should you wish to have more sauce. It is best if you marinate this overnight but an hour will do if pressed for time.
In a big frying pan on medium heat, saute garlic in a tablespoon of oil. Once again, do not let it turn brown. Take pan out of the fire and scoop out the cooked garlic using a spoon. Leave the oil in the pan and set aside the garlic for later. Next, saute the onion rings in the same pan depending on how cooked you want them then scoop them out and set them aside. Add another teaspoonof oil in the pan if needed. Now take the beef or the bangus out of the marinade. In the case of the beef, you may squeeze out the marinade gently. Fry the bangus/ beef until you can see the edges are slightly burnt (dark brown, not black).
Once the meat is done, you may pour in all of the marinade. At this point you may stir in the onions, or top them later when serving. Or, you may stir in half, and top half of the onions. Make sure the marinade covers all of the meat pieces. Once it boils, turn the heat off. Put them all on your serving plate and bring back the pan on the fire. Put your spoonful of margarine or butter on the pan and let it melt, then add the cooked garlic. Turn it off right away when it boils and add some ground pepper and stir with a spoon. Spoon all that buttery garlic goodness over the finished product.
For some, they prefer to add the margarine or butter to the oil before frying the meat and just top the toasted garlic later when serving so you may go that route too.
Let me know if it’s a hit!
Cook, Bambino, Cook 