Bistek a la Pobre

This is a popular weekday dinner back in the Philippines. The beauty of this recipe is that, like adobo, it is very flexible and you can make it any way you want. Aunt Lynn would sometimes make this with finely chopped carrots. The normal garnish is stir-fried fat onion rings but I prefer adding chopped scallions to the onion rings for garnish. It’s normally served with rice and a side of sauteed vegetables.

Ingredients

1 lb thinly sliced sirloin steaks
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp fish sauce
juice & zest of half a lemon
generous pinch of brown sugar
3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, reserve one for marinating
1 bunch of scallions, green and white part chopped

Cooking Directions

Pat the beef dry.

Marinate beef in soy sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, fish sauce, garlic, pepper and oil for 30 minutes or overnight.

Put a heavy bottomed frying pan on high heat, heat oil till smoking hot and flash-fry beef along with the marinade until cooked tender. This takes about 5-10 minutes.

Sprinkle with scallions and serve hot.

Yields: 4 servings