"When life gives you lemons, marinate your steak in them and fry it with soy sauce." - Filipinos

You guys. I had a bad day.  I was defeated by life. So I bought some red meat, and onions and fried me up some happy.  There are definitely health benefits to steak but I wasn't thinking about being healthy that day.  I was thinking about how I wanted to eat red meat until I collapsed into a food coma and forgot about when that man on the CTA stepped on my foot and then laughed at my outfit.  Sometimes red meat is what you need.

 Exactly, Gwynnie.  Exactly.

Wait, what?

Anyway.

#23 Bistec Tagalog (Beef Steak)

Choice of libation: Vodka.  Just...vodka.

Nope.  Just vodka.

Choice of music: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings Give the People What They Want

"Stranger to My Happiness" is one of their best songs to date.  I am forever obsessed with her. And now, so will you be.

So yeah.  Um.  Cut up marinated steak.  Fry it up.

Caramelize the onions.

Eat all of it, immediately, knowing that your entire place will smell like this meal for the next 24 hours.  And that's okay.

And now that you have the strength of an army, you are no longer defeated by life. 

stolen and adapted from my Dad's kitchen

1 lb. beef sirloin, thinly sliced

¼ cup soy sauce

3 small lemons or  calamansi

½ tsp ground black pepper

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 large sweet onion, sliced into rings

3 tbsp cooking oil

salt to taste

Marinate beef in soy sauce, lemon (or calamansi), and ground black pepper for at least 1 hour. I always marinate overnight.

Heat the cooking oil in a pan then stir fry the onion rings until the texture becomes soft. Set aside

In the same pan where the onions were fried, fry the marinated beef (without the marinade) until color turns brown. Set aside.

(I accidentally did the beef first and then the onions because...vodka?)

Put-in the garlic then saute for a few minutes

Pour the marinade and bring to a boil.

Put in the fried beef and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add water if you need to...

Add the stir-fried onions and some salt to taste.

Serve hot over rice.