Filipino Whole30 Eats: Bistek Tagalog with Crispy Sweet Potatoes

Sunday lunch again with my family. This time I made an old favorite: bistek, a soy sauce-seasoned beef dish with onions and, in some recipes, fried potatoes. As with most Filipino dishes, this would also normally have been accompanied by mounds of rice. In this Whole30 version, sweet potatoes took the place of both the rice and potatoes as the starchy accompaniment. And, of course, no soy sauce was used.

Speaking of substitutions, you can also try other members of the onion family in place of the onions. My sister doesn’t like onions, so to accommodate her, I sautéed leeks as well as onions to go with the dish. (And actually, leeks are what I ate myself.) It worked very well, as I imagine scallions, shallots, onion bulbs, and chives also would.

Translations
Bistek (bis-teck): a beef dish, usually made from thinly sliced cuts of beef; the word is derived from the Spanish term “bistec,” which is in turn derived from the English “beef steak”
Bistek Tagalog (bis-teck tah-gah-lohg): “Bistek of the Tagalogs”; i.e., the Filipino version of bistec
Kalamansi (kah-lah-mahn-si): small, very tart citrus fruit

Bistek with sautéed leeks instead of onions

Ingredients

• 1 lb. lean beef (I used round steak), cut thinly into 1/8 inch-thick strips
• 1/3 cup coconut aminos (soy sauce substitute)
• 2 tablespoons kalamansi juice (or 3 tablespoons lemon juice) 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 medium onion, sliced into rings
• 2 medium yellow sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/8 inch-thick disks
• coconut oil
• water

Instructions

1. Mix the coconut aminos, kalamansi juice, salt and pepper. Marinate the beef with this mixture in the fridge for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
2. Heat a large pan with your favorite cooking fat in medium heat (I used olive oil). Sauté the onion rings until they start to soften. Remove and set aside. 
3. In the same pan, fry the beef until brown on all sides. Add 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, then let simmer uncovered for at least 30 minutes (mixing every so often), until the beef has been softened and the sauce reduced. Return the onions into the pan when the beef is just about ready. (Note: If you use a more tender cut of beef, such as sirloin, you don’t have to simmer your beef in water. I used a tougher cut and so needed to soften it.)
4. While the beef is simmering, prepare your sweet potatoes. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a wire rack. Coat your sweet potato disks with melted coconut oil and place them on the baking sheet in a single layer. No need to season; the beef sauce will season them when you assemble your plates. Bake the sweet potatoes in your oven for about 25 minutes, flipping the disks halfway through. Keep a close eye on the disks to avoid burning them; they are ready when both sides start to brown.
5. When everything is ready, line your plates with sweet potato disks, then ladle the beef and onions on top or to the side of the sweet potatoes. Don’t forget to spoon some of the beef sauce over everything. 

Makes 2-3 servings. 

How this is Whole30
Coconut aminos was used instead of soy sauce in the marinade, and sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. The rice that normally goes this dish was omitted.

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