Beef pares is a street food popular among Filipinos craving for a quick good meal, but not many households cook it for their families. It must be the traditional convenience of eating the dish in the neighborhood paresan, readily prepared with a bowl of garlic fried rice and hot soup.
The tender boiled beef is cooked in a special blend of spices with sugar, soy sauce, star anise, garlic and ginger. The dark salty-sweet sauce drizzled on a mound of rice is already a viand in itself.
With only a few simple steps, this stew can be prepared from scratch at home.
“Beef pares is one of the easiest Pinoy fare to prepare,” says homemaker and private caterer Maria Asuncion “Me-anne” Aristorenas (tel. 5845344 and 0916-7438206). “You just have to make sure the beef is fork-tender to enjoy its real beefy goodness.”
Aristorenas suggests using beef brisket, flank or shanks.
Ang Pares ni Maria
½ k beef brisket, cut into cubes
2 c water
dash of salt
½ c soy sauce
½ tbsp ginger, thinly sliced
½ medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 pcs star anise
dash of 5 spice powder
¼ c brown sugar salt to taste chopped spring onions for garnish
- SLOW-COOK beef in water with a dash of salt for an hour or until beef is tender. Scoop out beef. Strain stock. When cool, scrape off fat.
- IN A SEPARATE saucepan, add beef stock, beef, garlic, onion, ginger. Mix well.
- ADD star anise. Let it boil.
- ADD soy sauce, sugar, salt and five spice powder. Allow to boil.
- MEANWHILE, fry leftover cooked rice with lots of garlic. Let the beef simmer until the sauce thickens. Transfer in a nice platter and top with spring onions before serving. Serve hot paired with garlic rice.
ANG Pares ni Maria
E-mail the author at vbaga@inquirer.com.ph
