In honor of Filipino American History Month, I am making my version of Beef Mechado, which is a Filipino beef stew braised in tomato sauce. It is hearty and delicious.

Ingredients:
2 lbs of beef brisket, round, or chuck
2 thin slices of pork belly (without skin)
salt, pepper, garlic powder
AP Flour
1 onion sliced
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup water
8 oz tomato sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbs brown sugar
1 large bay leaf or 2 small bay leaves
1 carrot cubed
1 large potato cubed
1 red bell pepper cubed
1 tbs calamansi juice or lemon juice
Take a photo and please tag me on social media; Instagram: Ivysfood

Instructions:

1. Cut slits on top of your beef and insert slices of pork belly (without the skin) inside the beef.
   If you have extra beef fat, you can stuff that in the beef or use the fat to cook the beef with.
2. Cut your beef into cubes.
3. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and dust with flour.
4. Add some oil to a pot. If you have extra beef fat, this is the time to render the fat. Discard when done rendering.
5. Add your beef and brown on all sides. When all sides are brown, set beef aside.
6. Add more oil to the pot- Don’t worry if you see brown bits on the bottom. This is fond and it will give your dish AMAZING flavor!
7. Saute onions and once fragrant, add garlic and saute until fragrant.
8. Add water and scrape the fond off the bottom of the pot.
9. Add the beef back in.
10. Add tomato sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, bay leaf and carrots.
11. Bring to boil, cover and reduce to simmer until beef is fork tender.
12. Add potatoes the last 30 minutes of cooking.
13. Add bell peppers the last 10 minutes of cooking.
14. Once done, add a squeeze of lemon juice or calamansi. This will help cut through the heaviness of this dish and bring out the flavors.
15. Enjoy with rice.
16. Please take a photo of your dish and tag me on social media. I love hearing from you guys! Instagram: IvysFood