one filipino dish a week

Weeknight cooking is always a challenge for me. The precious few hours between work and sleep are tugged and pulled in all sorts of different direction (cook vs order out, veg out at watch tv vs workout, finish some work vs read something I like, etc etc). On the way home last night I wanted some Filipino style beefsteak or bistek or bistig (i think the last one is more just my family’s joke). Bistek has that saltiness and the sourness that is characteristic of a lot of Filipino dishes. Exactly what I was looking for.

Bistek is one of a few Filipino dishes (I think) that doesn’t have a long list of ingredients. Just perfect because I haven’t been to the market to stock up yet. Thin sliced beef marinated in kalamansi or lime and soy sauce, with some sauteed onions and you’re good to go. I made a slight change this time around and used thicker pieces of meat…probably because of laziness. I used flank steak (the muscle part of the belly of the cow). I cut the pieces of meat into 2 inch cubes and marinated it in some lime and calamansi (I didn’t have a lot of either so I did a combination). I also made some potato wedges for a more steakhouse effect but the true Filipino that I am I still had a little bit of rice with this. This is definitely a great weeknight meal. Fairly quick (sans marinating), easy and flavorful.