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Home > Recipes > Filipino Dishes

Beef Tapa for Tapsilog

Published: Apr 18, 2022 • Updated: May 4, 2022 by: Mella • 4 Comments

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Make your own tapsilog with this beef tapa recipe. Made with thinly sliced tender beef cured in a sweet, salty, garlicky, and savory marinade. This is your ultimate Filipino breakfast, made easy and delicious!

Filipino fried beef with egg and garlic rice
Jump to:
  • Beef Tapa for TAPSILOG
  • Marinade Ingredients
  • Best Beef Cut for Tapa
  • The Secret to a Tender Beef Tapa
  • How long to Marinate
  • How to Cook–Tips!
  • Serve TAPSILOG Style!
  • Assemble
  • Storage and Shelf-life
  • Complete Recipe
  • Comments

Beef Tapa for TAPSILOG

Beef tapa is the Filipino (Philippines) version of 'cured beef'. It is a popularly served for breakfast "TAPSILOG" style but it is one of those dishes that you can also enjoy for lunch and dinner.

Beef tapa, like longganisa, has many variations. Some prepare it in the salty-garlicky style while others make it with a hint of sweetness. I love my tapa to be on the sweeter slightly tangy side so that's what we're making today.

soy sauce, garlic, pineapple juice, brown sugar, liquid seasoning

Marinade Ingredients

You find these ingredients non-traditional and probably sweeter than usual but I find that this combination not only makes the best homemade version of tapa but also closest to Jollibee's tapsilog (shh... don't tell anyone).

  • Pineapple juice - use pure canned pineapple juice.
  • Brown Sugar - sweetens the tapa. Add more or less depending on your preference.
  • Soy sauce - adds color and saltiness to the tapa
  • Salt - use sea salt or kosher salt. Do not use iodized or table salt.
  • Vinegar - the acid helps tenderize the meat. Use coconut vinegar, cane vinegar, and red or white wine vinegar.
  • Liquid seasoning - enhances the beef flavor with its deep umami flavoring
  • Ground black pepper
  • Garlic - Filipino recipes are never complete without this.

Best Beef Cut for Tapa

The best beef cut for tapa is top sirloin, ribeye, and tenderloin. The last two are my favorite for having a good marbling of fat which brings out a delicious beefy flavor.

How to Slice The Beef

Cut the beef into thin slices about ½ inch. You can easily do this at home using a sharp knife. Tip: freeze the whole block of beef for 2 hours beforehand to make it easier to cut.

You can also use pre-cut beef for convenience. If you happen to live nearby an Asian grocery store, I highly highly recommend looking for beef sukiyaki or beef shabu-shabu cuts. Yes, the one's that you use for hot pot. The extra thin cuts help the meat easily absorb the flavor of the marinade and there's no chance of overcooking which can lead to toughened meat. It's what I used in this recipe.

The Secret to a Tender Beef Tapa

To thoroughly enjoy beef tapa, you must tenderize it before cooking. There are a few ways to do this. Choose whatever is convenient for you.

tenderize beef with mallet or baking soda
  • Pound the beef with a meat mallet using the spiky side - this will break down the muscle fibers and will make it tender. Use just enough pressure, not too hard. Do this on both sides of the meat.
  • Marinate in baking soda then rinse - baking soda helps tenderize the meat by alkalizing its surface, making it harder for the proteins to bond and thereby keeping the meat tenderer when cooked.

How long to Marinate

For best flavor, marinate the beef tapa overnight. The acid in the pineapple juice and vinegar also helps tenderize the meat which allows it to absorb more flavor.

beef marinated in soy sauce, garlic and pineapple juice

To marinate, add all the marinade ingredients to the beef. Massage with your hands to combine well. Place in an airtight container or cover with a plastic wrap. Marinate for a minimum of 2 hours but best overnight.

How to Cook–Tips!

Here's how to cook the perfect beef tapa at home:

  • Heat the oil in a wide pan over high heat. The pan must be hot enough to brown and cook the beef quickly.
  • Use a cooking tong to pick up the beef pieces and directly place them in the hot pan. This is the easiest way to separate the meat from the marinade.
  • Cook the beef in batches to retain the heat of the pan and prevent the meat from becoming watery. Don't overcrowd the pan.
frying thin beef slices

Cooking Time

For ½ inches thick beef slices – this should take about 1 to 2 minutes on each side. It's cooked when both sides are charred and brown.

For extra-thin slices (sukiyaki/shabu-shabu cut) - you can cook this all at once with a wide shallow pan. Let the water evaporate and cook until the beef turns brown. Using this type of meat is very forgiving. There's no need to worry about overcooking the beef.

garlic fried rice

More Filipino breakfast...

  • Pork Fried Rice
  • Soft Pandesal
  • Bagoong Rice
  • Skinless Longganisa
  • Pork Tocino
  • Chicken Tocino

Serve TAPSILOG Style!

And the best part, serve beef tapa "TAPSILOG" style!

Filipino Beef breakfast recipe

TAPSILOG is a blend of Filipino words that means TAPA (TAP), SINANGAG (SI) and ITLOG (LOG). Tapa refers to cured beef, sinangag means garlic fried rice and itlog means fried egg.

And here is how to make TAPSILOG in one pan:

fried egg, beef ang garlic fried rice
  1. Start with frying the egg - you can make sunny side up, over easy, over medium, or scrambled eggs.
  2. Cook the beef tapa
  3. Fry the garlic - in the same oil that where you fried the beef. Add more oil as needed.
  4. Stir-fry the rice - until the rice granules are lightly toasted chewy. The best part? All the flavors from the fried beef will be absorbed into the rice.

Assemble

Place the tapa, garlic fried rice, and fried eggs on a plate. Serve with cucumber salad, fresh tomatoes, or atchara, and sukang sawsawan for dipping sauce.

How to assemble Tapsilog

Don't forget the coffee 🙂

Try these Beef Recipes

  • Bistek Tagalog (Filipino Beef Steak)
  • Beef Kare Kare
  • Mechadong Baka (Beef Mechado)
  • Beef Pares

Storage and Shelf-life

Marinated beef tapa can only last 5 days in the refrigerator. For longer shelf-life, freeze and place in a freezer-safe container. It should last for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight before cooking the next day.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good substitute for pineapple juice?

You can also use calamansi juice, and vinegar as a substitute for pineapple juice to make beef tapa. The amount will be different due to the level of acidity. See the recipe card for more details.

Try these next...

  • Tocino Sweetened Cured Pork Filipino Style
    Pineapple Cured Pork Tocino
  • tortang talong on a plate
    Tortang Talong Recipe (Filipino fried eggplant)
  • chicken marinated in pineapple juice and sugar then fried
    Chicken Tocino
  • Longganisa Hamonado Recipe
    Easy Skinless Longganisa

Complete Recipe

Filipino Cured beef serve Tapsilog style

Beef Tapa for Tapsilog

5 from 4 votes
Filipino tapa made with thinly sliced tender beef cured in a sweet, salty, garlicky, and savory marinade. Perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner served TAPSILOG style!
Makes (tap to scale):3 servings
Prep Time:10 minutes mins
Cooking Time:5 minutes mins
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Ingredients
 

  • 500 grams /17 oz tender beef (thinly sliced, see note 1)
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda (see note 2)
  • 2 tablespoon oil (for frying)

Beef Tapa Marinade

  • ½ cup pure pineapple juice (from the can, see note 3)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 2 tablespoon Filipino soy sauce (see note 4)
  • 4 teaspoon liquid seasoning
  • 5 teaspoon brown sugar (or white, see note 5)
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • ground black pepper (to taste)
  • chopped red chilies (optional)

Serve TAPSILOG

  • 3-4 sunny side eggs
  • garlic fried rice
  • slice tomatoes and cucumber

Instructions

  • Place beef slices in a large bowl. Sprinkle baking soda then massage with your hands. Let it sit for 15 minutes. Rinse with tap water then completely drain in a colander. Place back in the bowl.
  • In another bowl, combine all ingredients for the marinade. Stir well until sugar is dissolved. Taste then adjust sugar, salt, or pepper based on preference.
    ½ cup pure pineapple juice, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 2 tablespoon Filipino soy sauce, 5 teaspoon brown sugar, 5 cloves garlic, ground black pepper, 4 teaspoon liquid seasoning
  • Pour marinade into the beef. Massage until well combined. Cover the bowl or place in an airtight container and marinate for a minimum of 2 hours or place in the fridge and marinate overnight.

Cook the beef tapa (see note 6 for tips)

  • Heat oil in a wide pan over high heat. When the oil is hot enough, fry the beef slices until both sides are browned. This should only take 1 to 2 minutes per side. Cook in batches to prevent the pan from becoming too watery.

Recipe Notes and Tips:

  1. Beef cuts - top sirloin, ribeye, and tenderloin are recommended cuts for beef tapa. For convenience, you can also use beef sukiyaki or beef shabu-shabu cuts (yes, the one’s that you use for hot pot) available in most Asian grocery stores.
  2. Baking Soda - this helps tenderize the beef. If not available, you can also tenderize the beef by pounding it with a meat mallet.
  3. Pineapple juice - can be substituted with ¼ cup calamansi juice, omit the vinegar.  You can also omit pineapple juice entirely and use 1 tablespoon + 1 ½ teaspoon vinegar.
  4. Filipino soy sauce - you can substitute it with 3 tablespoons Kikkoman soy sauce.
  5. Sugar - use 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar for a much sweeter beef tapa.
  6. To cook TAPSILOG in one pan - start with frying the eggs, followed by the beef tapa then finally the garlic fried rice. The flavor of the tapa will be infused into the rice.
  7. Cooking time for extra-thin slices (sukiyaki/shabu-shabu cut): Fry all at once using a wide shallow pan. Let the water evaporate and cook until the beef turns brown or crispy (if preferred). Add more oil as needed. Using this type of meat is very forgiving. There’s no need to worry about overcooking the beef.
  8. Storage: Marinated beef can last in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and up to 2 months in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator thoroughly before cooking. 
Author : Mella
Course : Breakfast
Cuisine : Filipino
Keyword : tapsilog, Filipino beef tapa
Nutrition Facts
Beef Tapa for Tapsilog
Amount per Serving
Calories
490
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
33
g
51
%
Saturated Fat
 
11
g
69
%
Trans Fat
 
1
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
4
g
Monounsaturated Fat
 
17
g
Cholesterol
 
102
mg
34
%
Sodium
 
1287
mg
56
%
Potassium
 
537
mg
15
%
Carbohydrates
 
14
g
5
%
Fiber
 
1
g
4
%
Sugar
 
10
g
11
%
Protein
 
35
g
70
%
Vitamin A
 
41
IU
1
%
Vitamin C
 
4
mg
5
%
Calcium
 
33
mg
3
%
Iron
 
3
mg
17
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag @rivertenkitchen or leave a comment below!

Originally published on Aug 2018. Updated April 18, 2022.

Riverten Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Karen says

    June 20, 2022 at 5:50 am

    5 stars
    Awesome recipe. The beef came out so soft and tender with the classic tapa flavor. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Mella says

      June 20, 2022 at 6:20 am

      You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed my tapa recipe 🙂
      - M

      Reply
  2. Josephine Kristine Asuncion says

    December 22, 2020 at 11:30 am

    5 stars
    Tried it and i love it! Thank you for the recipe…

    Reply
  3. MrsB says

    July 01, 2020 at 4:41 am

    5 stars
    Simple and easy and flavorful! Thank you ?

    Reply

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