Nothing complicated here, just trying to tweak the garden-variety Pinoy bistek. Everyone knows the problem with this dish: it’s usually made from thin, chewy beef from cows that have gone beyond vintage but are not quite antique; there’s always too little sauce and not enough onions; moreover, you’re somehow supposed to eat it with a spoon and fork. But the basic concept is sound. I used marbled cuts of four-week dry-aged sirloin marbled with plenty of fat and cut into fairly thick slices, around 0.7 centimeters. Some might argue that beef of that quality shouldn’t be subjected to this kind of cooking but should merely be flash-fried, but as long as it isn’t marinated too long the extra dash of flavour enhances the dark aroma of aged beef.
Take several cuts of dry-aged sirloin and marinate in a mixture of half a head’s worth of chopped garlic, Japanese soy sauce, the juice of a whole lime, and plenty of freshly-ground black pepper. Set aside for about forty-five minutes. Slice onions into thick rings; make more than you think you need because there’s always not quite enough to go around. Heat a heavy pan over a high heat and throw in the onions with a generous slick of groundnut (aka peanut) oil while the pan is still heating up. By the time the pan reaches a high heat the onions will be slightly soft and will begin to brown. Keep shaking the pan so that the slices loosen into individual rings. Just as the onions begin to brown (this should happen very quickly) take them out of the pan and set aside. Add some new oil and, as it begins to smoke, lay the strips of beef in the pan, shaking to keep them from sticking. Turn over and cook until medium: this should all take less than a minute and the soy sauce will caramelise into a deep, rich brown; take care that they don’t burn. Return the onions to the pan and add the marinade liquid and turn the heat the medium; let the liquid boil off a little and colour the onions. This, too, should happen fairly quickly. Slather these over the beef strips and serve with hot rice, a handful of lamb’s lettuce or mache, and buko juice with ice.
