Cook’s notes
It’s just one of the many rice toppings found in the Philippines. But budbod is more. To appreciate the dish properly, you need to toss everything in the bowl together and drizzle in vinegar before digging in. It’s marvelously comforting and titillating at the same time.
How we discovered budbod
My younger daughter, Alex, met with two high school friends who share the name Patricia. One was going to celebrate her birthday in a few days’ time; the other was on vacation from Canada. They agreed on a potluck affair. Patricia from Canada who grew up in the town of Angono in Rizal province brought beef budbod. Alex’s told me quite breathlessley about budbod and her excitement was so infectious that I soon found myself Googling “beef budbod”. From what I read, it is just one variant of the many budbod dishes served in Rizal. There’s a pork version, a chicken version, a pritong lumpia (fried spring roll) version and a “mix” version that has beef, pork, chicken and spring roll served over rice.Our home version of beef budbod
This is a dish with several components — beef, rice, egg, vegetables and sauce. Only three — beef, rice, and egg — require cooking and they need to be cooked separately. The egg is typically chopped scrambled egg but I chose to cook a thin omelette which I sliced into strips. The rice component is garlic fried rice. Cooking the beef was a three-step affair. The marinated beef was drained and spread in a lightly oiled and heated pan. When the meat changed color and the juices had dried up, I scooped out the meat, transferred it to a chopping board and gave it a rough chop. The rendered fat in the pan was poured off leaving only a trace. The chopped beef went back into the pan and, over high heat, cooked with occasional stirring until the color darkened. Then, I assembled the beef budbod. Carefully. It’s really a simple rice dish but I want beef budbod virgins to be able to get excited by making sure that every component is not only visible but highlighted as well.Final notes
While beef budbod is an assembled rice bowl meal, the best way to enjoy it is to toss all the contents of the bowl together and drizzle in vinegar (spicy vinegar is recommended) before digging in. Chopped onion and cilantro are not traditional ingredients but “try before you deny” as the annoying Argyle in Stranger Things would say. They really give the dish better flavor and a lovely brightness that scallions alone cannot provide.Beef budbod
Ingredients
Beef
- 500 grams thinly sliced beef (1.1 pounds) sukiyaki or yakinuku cut is best
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon calamansi juice or use lime or lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 pinches sugar
Eggs
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
Garlic fried rice
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 3 cups day-old rice
- 3 tablespoons liquid seasoning (we used Knorr)
Toppings
- chopped tomatoes
- chopped red onion
- thinly sliced scallions
- torn cilantro
To serve
- vinegar preferably spicy
Instructions
Marinate the beef
- Cut the beef into small pieces and place in a mixing bowl.
- Add the soy sauce, calamansi juice, garlic, pepper and sugar. Mix well.
- Leave to marinate.
Cook the eggs
- Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan.
- Pour in the beaten eggs and tilt the pan in all direction to allow it to spread.
- Cook just until done.
- Roll into a log, slide to a chopping board and slice thinly.
Cook the garlic fried rice
- Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan and sprinkle in the garlic.
- Cook until the garlic bits are just starting to brown then spread the rice over them.
- Drizzle the liquid seasoning over the rice.
- Stir fry until the rice is heated through.
Cook the beef
- Heat a frying pan and coat the bottom with oil.
- Drain the beef and spread on the hot oil.
- Cook for a minute, stir and continue cooking until the meat changes color and the pan juices have dried up.
- Scoop out the beef, transfer to a chopping board and roughly chop.
- Pour off excess rendered fat from the pan, reheat and put the beef back in.
- Cook until the beef is done and lightly caramelized.
Assemble and serve
- Mold the garlic fried rice into shallow bowls.
- On top of the rice, arrange the beef, chopped tomato and onion, and egg slices.
- Sprinkle the scallions and cilantro over the assembled beef budbod.
- Serve with vinegar on the side.
Boiled chicken and vegetable soup (Filipino nilagang manok)
