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You are here: Home / All Recipes / Tapsilog (Marinated Beef, Egg and Fried Rice)

Tapsilog (Marinated Beef, Egg and Fried Rice)

A portmanteau of tapa (marinated beef), sinangag (fried rice) and itlog (egg), tapsilog is a popular breakfast dish in the Philippines.

Tapsilog a la Beef Salpicao with Garlic Turmeric Fried Rice

Before it became tapsilog, the dish was simply tapsi — a beef and rice dish. Story has it that it was a popular breakfast and all-night dish among workers who could enjoy a filling meal without breaking the bank.

How tapsi became tapsilog is attributed to a carinderia owner named Vivian. At her establishment in Marikina, she transformed the duo into a trio and the rest, as they say, is history. Vivian went on to build branches of her eatery while copycats sprouted all over Metro Manila.

The most common, and probably the least expensive way, to prepare tapa is to marinate the beef in soy sauce. I go a step farther. I go a step father too in cooking the fried rice.

Tapsilog (Marinated Beef, Egg and Fried Rice)

Recipe by Connie Veneracion
To make tapa for my tapsilog, yakiniku-cut beef is seasoned a la salpicao and fried just until lightly caramelized. Off the heat, chopped raw onion is tossed in. The onion bits cut through the fattiness and add a light crunch to the tapa.
To give the garlic fried rice a brighter color, turmeric is added.
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Marinating time 8 hrs
Total Time 8 hrs 20 mins
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Filipino
Servings 3 people
Tapsilog (beef, egg and rice)
Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

Tapa

  • 500 grams yakiniku-cut beef
  • 2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 tablespoons liquid seasoning I used Knorr — I do not recommend substituting soy sauce
  • cooking oil for frying
  • 1 small onion peeled and roughly chopped

Garlic turmeric fried rice

  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil use some of the oil in which the tapa was cooked
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 2 to 3 cups cooked rice (see notes after the recipe)
  • salt to taste

To serve

  • 3 eggs fried sunny side up

Instructions
 

Marinate the beef

  • Cut the yakiniku beef into half-inch strips.
  • Place the beef in a bowl, and mix in the garlic, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and liquid seasoning.
    Marinating thinly cut beef
  • Transfer the beef to a container with a tight cover and leave in the fridge to marinate overnight.

Cook the tapa

  • Heat enough oil in a frying pan to reach a depth of about one-fourth inch.
  • Spread the marinated beef on the hot oil and leave to cook for about a minute before stirring to up the pieces.
    Frying marinated beef
  • Cook, stirring often, until the edges of the beef are lightly caramelized.
  • Scoop out the tapa, transfer to a bowl and toss in the chopped onion.
    Adding raw onion to cooked beef

Cook the garlic turmeric fried rice

  • Pour off the oil and rendered fat from the pan leaving only two tablespoonfuls (or transfer the required amount of oil and rendered fat into a clean pan) and reheat.
  • Saute the garlic and turmeric powder until fragrant and lightly browned.
    Making fried rice with garlic and turmeric
  • Turn up the heat, add the rice, sprinkle in salt and stir fry until the rice is heated through.
    Garlic turmeric fried rice

Assemble the tapsilog

  • Ladle rice on a plate.
  • Spoon the tapa a la salpicao around it.
  • Arrange an egg on top of the rice.

Notes

Cooked rice is NOT newly-cooked rice. It is a bad idea to make fried rice out of rice that has not been allowed to dry up. Using day-old rice which has chilled in the fridge overnight is ideal.
Keyword Beef
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Published: February 14, 2021 • Last modified: November 10, 2021 ♥ All Recipes, Filipino, Meat, Southeast Asian Food
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