Continuing with the mission to master one Filipino dish a month, I’ve selected Beef Mechado as February’s dish. Cooking beef is not my strong suit, so this was a challenge. Unfortunately, I wasn’t taught how to make this when I was younger, though I did learn a few tricks from my aunt from a recent family gathering. Taking the typical methods, and adding a little twist, I’ve come up with a great Beef Mechado recipe.
Typically, Beef Mechado recipes call for beef chuck. When picking up the meat at the noticed there were two cuts of beef for stews: Beef Chuck and Beef Round. Of course, I followed the usual recipes and made it with Beef Chuck. When I first made this recipe, the beef was a little dry and too fatty for my liking. Beef chuck tends to be dry when not cooked properly (shame on me). The fat didn’t melt away as I had hoped so I knew I had to revisit the cooking method, or maybe the ingredients.
Then my next attempts led me to mix the beef chuck with the beef round. Beef round, per my butcher, is leaner and is also good for stews. I needed the fat content so I decided not to go all the way with beef round. So here is the mixture that works for me: 1 1/2 lbs beef chuck and 1/2 lb beef round.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs beef chuck, cubed (do not trim the fat)
- 1/2 lb beef round, cubed
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 slice lemon with rind
- 3 medium potatoes, cubed
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 2-3 pieces of dry laurel bay leaves
- freshly ground black pepper
- salt, to taste
Directions
NOTE: Cooking time may vary. Go with your instincts on whether to cook the dish longer.
If cooking over the stovetop…
- Rinse and season beef with salt and pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan, over medium heat.
- Add garlic and onions and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the beef and cook for about 1 minute on each side.
- Pour the tomato sauce, soy sauce, and water and cook for about 30 minutes. Stir often so the food doesn’t stick to the pot and burn.
- Add the potatoes, carrots, bay leaves, and lemon slice. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Cook for another 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- Serve over hot white rice.
If using a slow cooker…
- Rinse and season beef with salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan, over medium heat.
- Add garlic and onions and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Transfer to the slow cooker.
- Add 1 tbsp of oil back to the pan. Add 1/2 of the beef to the pan. Sear for about 1 minute on each side then transfer to the slow cooker.
- Add the remaining oil to the pan, and sear the rest of the beef. (NOTE: this is done in batches so the pan does not get crowded. You don’t want to steam the meat.)
- Pour the tomato sauce, soy sauce, and water into the slow cooker.
- Add the potatoes, carrots, bay leaves, and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Cook on low for 6 hours; on high for 4 hours. In the final 30 minutes, add the lemon slice and remove the lid.
- Serve over hot white rice.
When storing leftovers, be sure to discard the lemon.
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