Ketchup Beef...seriously

We are far from April 1st, this is no joke! Ketchup Beef is delicious. My Nanay made this dish when I was 15 and it is easily one of the dishes that got me into cooking. We recently had a Christmas party at work and I made this along with Caldereta. I wasn't sure how people would receive it so I made two dishes, just in case one didn't work out. I didn't tell people it was ketchup beef, the sound might have prevented them from tasting it. Instead, I watched both dishes side by side and within 15 minutes, the Ketchup Beef was gone! GONE! I was elated to see it go but then I started to wonder why it was so popular. I know it's tasty but how can something as simple as Ketchup become so savory? How can the red stuff that comes free in almost every fast food restaurant make a dish taste so good? After a while, I broke down the ingredients in my head and realized that Ketchup may sound like a weird ingredient but I came to the conclusion that Ketchup is just one big short-cut and by using it, it turned this dish into a 4 ingredient recipe. and with that being said...here it is!

 I used Bottom Roast, the store I got it from had it on sale. I've made it with flank steak and chuck cubes before too. I prefer this cut because I can cut the meat to the thickness I prefer and by doing so, I control the cooking time. Try a little tenderness!

Garlic, one of my favorite 2 syllable words. the sound alone makes me hungry, forget what the smell does. Anyway, I prefer using at least a full bulb per 2 lbs of meat. I can imagine using less but that makes my head hurt, so let's stop here. seriously though, don't skimp on the garlic, you'll regret it.

Once you have your meat in order, season it with salt, pepper, garlic powder and 4 tbsp of soy sauce. Mix it well and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

Heat some oil to medium high heat and brown the meat. Don't worry about stir frying or getting texture, this is merely to give it a head start before you add the ketchup for it to simmer in.

Once the meat is browned, add the ketchup and stir it gently, if the liquid begins to form pop bubbles, turn the heat down. the last thing anyone needs is red spotted t-shirts. Cover the pan and let it simmer until the meat becomes tender. I undercooked the meat once and it took away from the dish drastically...never again. The time on this will vary depending on how thin/thick you cut the meat (full circle baby!) my average simmer time is 45 minutes. The final dish shouldn't be soupy. If you find that there's too much liquid, remove the lid and increase the heat and let the liquid evaporate. The sauce should be thick....like ketchup...BOOM! what? whoa!

Once you're happy with the taste, consistency and tenderness of the meat, serve over rice and enjoy!...or do some douchey-shot like this to make yourself feel like a fancy shmancy pants. eck.

And that's it! I truly believe you'll enjoy it. if it helps, don't think of it as Ketchup, rather its basic ingredients of tomato, vinegar, other stuff.

Ingredients:

Beef - 3lbs
Garlic - 1.5 bulbs
Soy Sauce - 3 Tbsp.
Ketchup - 2 cups
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder

1. slice meat, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
2. add soy sauce and mix well.
3. mince garlic
4. flash fry meat and get some color to it.
5. add garlic and stir gently, cook for 3 minutes.
6. add ketchup, bring to a simmer. cover and let sit for about 30 minutes or until tender.
7. once meat is tender, bring heat to high to reduce liquid by half. stir occasionally.
7. enjoy!