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This Beef Pares Recipe is made tastier with the addition of sibot herbs. It’s more savory than your normal pares since no sugar was added. Since, I do not like sweet main course dishes, I leave out the sugar, though feel free to add if you like the traditionally sweet pares.

Pares literally means pair. This fatty and flavorfull dish is usually paired with garlic fried rice or egg noodles. Though, there are restaurants and fastfoods serving pares, I think the best beef pares I had was with the street food vendor. You can easily spot them since they are riding their bicycle with built – in side car which serves as their roving kitchen and table for their customers. I would often see them with so many people lining up and eating since their food is really affordable and tasty.

Beef pares has a very distinct flavor coming from the soy sauce and the star anise. I just recently found out about sibot and decided to try it out with the beef pares. The result is a very tasty broth. It’s somewhat similar to Chinese wanton beef broth. Another spices I added was a tiny amount of nutmeg powder. Nutmeg powder is a beef flavor enhancer.

Beef pares is usually accompanied by chili garlic sauce for the extra kick or a drizzle of calamansi juice for more tangy flavor.

What is Sibot?

Sibot is a combination of different Chinese herbs. You can mix it with your meat broth or even drink it as a tea concoction. I was able to find it in Robinsons Supermarket and it contains Shu Di or Chinese foxgloves, Tang Gui or Angelica Sinensis, Chuan Xiong or Peony Alba and Chinese wolfberry or Goji berry. In a way it is somewhat a health tea beverage.

Though, I must admit it is an acquired taste. This is the same with the beef pares because of the star anise. My mom doesn’t like it because of the star anise flavor.

Choice of Beef Meat

This is an important factor for a more delicious beef pares recipe. The meat has to be meaty and fatty at the same time. Though, I know the delicious cut of meat comes with a price. Well, not for this dish. The beef pares sold on the street comes with beef meat, beef fat and even beef tendons or litid. In my case, I decided to go with beef camto or flank steak. It has generous amount of lean meat, fat and tendon. When cooked, you could actually feel the soft chewy texture of the meat with somewhat melt in your mouth feel.

Cooking Method

I have cooked this Beef Pares Recipe several times using 4 – hour cooking method but this time I decided to use our pressure cooker. The longer cooking method might last from 4 to 5 hours over medium low heat, while using the pressure cooker will just take 40 – 50 minutes. This is depending on how tender you want your meat is. At 40 – 45 minutes, the meat will be soft and firm while at 45 – 50 minutes will give you a very tender and delicate meat.

Ingredients

1kg	Beef Camto
4 Tbsp	Olive Oil
2 pieces	Thumb – sized Ginger, crushed and roughly chopped
1 piece	Green Onion, chopped
8 cloves	Garlic, chopped
1 piece	Onion, chopped
2 pieces	Star Anise
1 teaspoon	Ground Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon	Nutmeg
1 sachet	Sibot
2 pieces	Beef Bouillon Cubes
1/2 cup	Dark Soy Sauce
1/4 cup	Rice Wine
12 – 14 cups	Water
Salt to taste
Chopped Chives for garnishing

Procedure

Thoroughly clean the beef and set a side.

Sauté ginger, green onion, garlic, onion, star anise, ground black pepper and nutmeg powder with olive oil in your pressure cooker.

Add the beef and the rest of the ingredients except for salt and chives. Start with 12 cups of water. Boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Cover your pressure cooker and cook for 40 – 50 minutes over medium high heat.

Switch off heat and let the pressure naturally dissipate, about 15 minutes, before removing the lid.

Remove the chunk of beef and chop to desired size.

Remove the solids in the broth by filtering. Pour back the broth and beef into the pressure cooker. Add more water and salt if necessary. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Garnish with chopped chives.

Best serve with garlic fried rice or egg noodle.