Beef Pares has long been a popular “street food,” ever since it was invented in the 1970s by the Tiu family. Their restaurant, Jonas along Mayon Street in Quezon City, used to be the go-to place if you wanted Beef Pares. The Chinese-style beef stew, mildly sweet and aromatic, is served with garlic-topped fried rice and some beef broth. Since its invention in the late-1970s, Pares has spread mostly in the Northern part of Metro Manila, namely in La Loma, Sampaloc and Caloocan.
More recently, the love for this beef stew combo meal has taken it everywhere, from street carts in Makati to different Pares restaurants all over the metropolis and beyond. There is even Beef Pares served with bone marrow in one of the newer restaurants that specializes in this beef dish. For this month’s recipe, I decided to pair the Beef Pares with noodles, instead of rice, and include the soup in the dish as opposed to serving it on the side. This version is closer to a typical Beef Mami but the sweeter and thicker sauce, which has a hint of anise flavor, still makes it unique.
INGREDIENTS:
500g beef brisket, cut into 1.5 inch
extra bones for soup
cooking oil
salt and pepper
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp. ginger, minced
1 pc. large onion, minced
1-1.5L water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 pcs. star anise
1 tbsp. slurry (equal parts of water and cornstarch)
500g fresh egg noodles
For topping (garnish):
■ spring onion, sliced
■ fried chopped garlic
■ fresh chili, chopped
PROCEDURE:
- Season beef and bones with salt and pepper. Over high heat, brown beef and bones in a pot. Remove and set aside.
- Sauté half of onion, garlic and ginger in vegetable oil.
- Return beef and bones and pour water. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Cook until beef are tender.
- Pour the water in a pot and bring to a boil.
- When the meat is tender, remove from the pot and allow to cool down. Leave the bones and continue to simmer to infuse more flavors.
- Using a separate pan, sauté the remaining onion, garlic and ginger.
- Add beef, soy sauce, one to one-and-a-half cup of beef stock (stock used in boiling the meat), star anise and sugar, and then bring to a boil.
- Adjust taste by adding salt and ground black pepper. Stir in slurry and then simmer until the sauce thickens.
- Cook fresh noodles in simmering beef stock, place in a bowl. Add beef with sauce on top of noodles. Pour beef stock and add your preferred toppings (fried garlic, spring onion and chili).