Beef Mechado Recipe was derived from the Spanish word “mecha,” which means wick.
The dish is traditionally prepared using the Spanish practice of threading pork strips through a large piece of lean beef that makes the strips of pork will look like a wick of a candle while inside the beef. By doing this method, the fat from the pork will give the beef have more flavor and moisture.
The threaded beef is usually marinated first with seasonings like soy sauce and calamansi juice, which makes it very “Filipino.” The beef is then braised using a mixture of soup stock and the same marinade it was soaked. Onions and tomato sauce are then added to make the sauce thicker and flavorful.
These days, threading the beef with pork is often skipped, and most cooks prefer using beef cuts that are in smaller sizes to cut the cooking time. There are some variations of the dish that use bony beef cuts instead of beef chunks. There are also some who prefer using tomato paste instead of tomato sauce since the paste gives thicker consistency to the sauce.
Some often mistake Beef Mechado Recipe with Beef Kaldereta, which is a very similar Filipino dish. The two stews both use beef and tomato sauce, but Beef Kaldereta can easily be distinguished from Beef Mechado since the former doesn’t use carrots.
Although Beef Mechado has a very strong Spanish influence, Filipinos consider this stew as their own. Beef Mechado guarantees an explosion of flavors that one would definitely come back for more!
We highly suggest you try this while in the Philippines, you will noticed that it has similar taste with beef stew from European countries or any other countries who cooks the same as the Philippine Mechado Recipe. I hope you learn from this Recipe Have a wonderful cooking experience.
Recipe
Beef Mechado Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g beef
- 2 large potatoes
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 large onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 3 pcs dried bay leaves
- lemon
- black pepper
- salt
- cooking oil
Instructions
- Heat cooking oil in a pot over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion. Add the beef cubes and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour 1 cup water and tomato sauce. Add the dried bay leaves and lemon slice. Simmer for 45 minutes.
- Add potatoes and soy sauce. Put salt and pepper to taste. Cook until potatoes are tender.
- Serve with rice while it's hot!
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