Nuea Sawan (Heavenly Beef)

I am continually amazed by how I keep finding foods that are familiar to my culture in cuisines from all over the world. With its sweet-salty taste and jerky-like texture, nuea sawan reminds me of the beef tapa, a popular breakfast item in the Philippines.

Like tapa, nuea sawan is traditionally sun-dried but the procedure below will allow preparation of this sweet meat even in moderate climates. The recipe calls for whole coriander seeds, toasted and ground to powder. Since I could not find these seeds from all the stores I visited, I substituted dried cilantro leaves.

Because of the similarity, I served my nuea sawan like Filipino tapa: tapsilog-style with garlicky fried rice and sunny-side up eggs. However, this heavenly beef is also delicious paired with sweet rice balls.

Makes 4 Servings

2 lbs sirloin (or any high quality beef), sliced very thinly
3 tbsps fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dried cilantro
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp honey
2 to 3 cups cooking oil

 

Prepare sirloin. Combine dried cilantro, soy sauce, fish sauce, honey and sugar. Massage mixture into sliced meat and marinate for around 10 minutes.

Heat a wide skillet. Coat surface with oil. Cook beef in a single layer, until sauce is reduced. Remove and set aside.

Heat around 2 to 3 cups of oil. Fry beef in small batches, until slices float to top. Remove and drain excess oil on paper towels.

 

Beef and Veal Recipes in The CookMobile Archive:

Simple Beef Stew

 

 

 

Angus Beef Burger with Bacon, Swiss and Steak-Mushroom Sauce

 

 

 

Beef is what’s for dinner? Check out these delicious recipes:
Flat Iron Steaks with Grilled Corn & Cumin-Lime Butter
Puffy Tacos stuffed with Ground Beef
Bistek Bulalo
Succulent Pan-Fried Steak