Beef Pares with Garlic Fried Rice

Beef Pares

There was once a time in college where I was enamored by Beef Pares. The thing with Beef Pares is that you never see it any upscale restaurant. If you want really good Beef Pares, you go to the hole in the walls, which are more often than not carinderias and located in hard to reach places. And that was what I did, for the love of Beef Pares. Once I even found myself under a fly over in EDSA. It was wild. I do not know why Beef Pares is not served in more Filipino restaurants. It is a delicious delicious dish. Made from the toughest part of beef, it is slow cooked for long hours until the litid (ligaments) is nicely gelatinous. The impossibly tender beef melts in your mouth and the sweet savory anise-laced broth warms the belly like a heartfelt embrace on a cold rainy day.

Of course it was only a matter of time before I attempted to make Beef Pares at home, which I eventually did after zeroing in on a recipe I found in Panlasang Pinoy. Sure Beef Pares is good with plain steamed rice, but I figured if I am already going through the trouble of making this dish on my own, why not make garlic rice as well? Just like having it in any hole in the wall carinderia.

Beef Pares

Ingredients

1 lb beef (uncut, preferably brisket)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp ginger, minced

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 medium-sized onion, minced

4 cups water

1 piece beef cube

2 pieces star anise

2 tbsp cooking oil

3 tbsp scallions or green onions, finely chopped

Procedure

Pour the water in a pot and bring to a boil.

Put-in the beef cube and beef then boil until the meat is tender (about 1 to 2 hours if slow cooked or 20 mins if using a pressure cooker)

When the meat is tender, remove from the pot and allow to cool down. Do not throw away the stock used for boiling.

Slice the boiled meat in cubes and set aside.

Place the oil in a pan then heat-up. Saute the garlic, ginger, and onion.

Put-in the sliced meat and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes

Add the soy sauce, ground black pepper, sugar, and 1 cup of beef stock (stock used in boiling the meat) then bring to a boil.

Put-in the star anise and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens

Garnish with scallions on top.

Serve with Garlic Fried Rice and soup

Share and Enjoy!

Number of servings (yield): 3

Source: http://panlasangpinoy.com/2009/09/13/filipino-food-how-to-cook-beef-pares-recipe/

Garlic Fried Rice

Ingredients

3 cups cooked rice, fluffed

2 tablespoons cooking oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

Sea salt

Procedure

Heat oil, saute garlic until it starts to brown. Add rice and stir fry for 3 minutes. Season with salt. Cook for another 2 minutes.