Cured, pan-fried beef strips served with garlic fried rice and a sunny-side-up egg, a beloved Filipino breakfast combination.
Tapsilog is a portmanteau of its three components — tapa (cured beef), sinangag (garlic fried rice) and itlog (egg) — a combination so beloved that similar 'silog' meals with different proteins have become a whole genre of Filipino breakfast. The beef is marinated for hours in soy sauce, garlic, sugar and a bit of vinegar, a mixture that both flavors and slightly cures the meat, before being pan-fried until the edges caramelize. Served alongside rice fried with plenty of garlic until fragrant and a fried egg with a still-runny yolk, tapsilog exemplifies the Filipino breakfast tradition of pairing savory, substantial proteins with rice rather than sweeter Western breakfast foods.
Serves 4
Toss beef strips with soy sauce, garlic, sugar, vinegar and pepper; marinate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet and cook the marinated beef strips until caramelized at the edges and cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.
Heat remaining oil in a separate pan and fry the minced garlic until golden and crisp, then add the day-old rice, tossing to coat and heat through, about 5 minutes.
Fry the garlic until deeply golden but not burnt — this is the whole point of sinangag, so take your time and watch it closely.
Season the fried rice with salt.
Fry the eggs sunny-side up, keeping the yolks runny.
Plate the beef, garlic rice and a fried egg together on each plate.
Marinate the beef for as long as possible, ideally overnight, since the soy-vinegar mixture needs real time to flavor and slightly tenderize the meat.
Fry the garlic for the rice until deeply golden but stop before it burns, since burnt garlic turns bitter and ruins the whole dish.
Use genuinely day-old, cold rice for the fried rice component — fresh rice turns mushy rather than staying separate and slightly crisp.
Tocino (sweet cured pork) or longganisa (Filipino sausage) can replace the beef for tocilog or longsilog, other popular 'silog' variations.
A spicier version adds a bit of chopped chile to the marinade.
Serving with a side of pickled papaya (atchara) is a traditional accompaniment.
Refrigerate cooked beef and rice separately up to 3 days; reheat each separately and fry a fresh egg to serve, since fried eggs don't reheat well.
Silog meals became popular in the Philippines starting in the mid-20th century as an affordable, filling breakfast combination, and tapsilog specifically reflects the long tradition of tapa, cured meat historically preserved with salt and vinegar in the tropical climate.
Yes, thinly sliced flank or round steak both work well and are commonly used for tapa.
Spread freshly cooked rice on a tray to cool and dry slightly before frying, which helps prevent it from turning mushy.
It was likely sliced too thick or cooked too long — slice it thin against the grain and cook just until the edges caramelize.
Per serving (380g / 13.4 oz) · 4 servings total
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