Beef Tapa with Coke is a sweet savory dish in Filipino cuisine, where tender mix of meat and marinade will perfectly partner with steam rice. This beef tapa is made by marinating thinly cut beef with coke, soy sauce, garlic, vinegar brown sugar, pineapple juice, and black pepper overnight and panfried it after coating with corn starch. Why not try adding soda or rather Coke to your beefs?

A Brief history on Coke in Food

Coca Cola is a popular soft drink brand that’s been in pop culture for generations. An undisputed king of sweetened carbonated drinks. Its been so popular and iconic that’s it has popped up in a list of desserts and savory dishes as the special ingredient. Adding soda in your meats has been a thing done by many since the height of Coke’s popularity. The reason is because the carbonation process found in sodas adds to the citric acid that helps tenderize the meat and enhance the flavor of the marinade. That’s great about the soft drink or any kind of soda added to meat is that it isn’t as harsh as lemons or any added citrus or vinegars, which sometimes cooks the meat, even before its ready or heated.

What is a Beef tapa?

Beef tapa is a Filipino version of the ‘Beef jerky’ except its not cured and ready to eat. Beef tapa is commonly eaten for breakfast called ‘tapsilog’ with garlic rice or freshly cooked rice and a side of eggs with a dip of spiced vinegar that just awakens your senses and gives you energy for the day. ‘tapsilog’ being an abbreviation of ‘Tapa’ and ‘Sinigang which is fried rice, plus ‘itlog’ the Filipino term for egg.

A Beef Tapa and Coke dish combination?

Beef tapa is a dish that perfectly matches a steaming cup of white rice or even fried garlic rice with a side of sunny side up egg that’s the best combo for breakfast. But beef tapa with a Coke marinade? It gives you that extra sweetness and enhances the flavor of the marinade that gives your meat that extra tenderness that sometimes hard to do.

The preparation for this dish is very simple. Marinade the beef with Coke as you mix in the sauce made of soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, brown sugar, unsweetened pineapple juice and black pepper. Mixing the sauce properly so that’s it’s well combined and the sugar has dissolved. Than pour the marinade into the beef, mixing it and massaging it well to make sure each piece is coated and submerged into the marinade. Cover for a few hours to overnight. Marinade overnight helps make the flavors really seep into the meat. Once you’re done with the marinade, add in some cornstarch to help thicken the sauce and make sure it sticks to the meat. This also helps with keeping the meat soft and keeps the moisture in. prepare a pan at high heat because we want to shock the meat and since these have been thinly sliced you’ll just need a few minutes or for some just a few seconds for each side to be cooked. Make sure to cook these by batches to make sure there isn’t any sauce boiling in your pan. Set them aside on a plate as you do the next batch. Before serving, place all the beef strips back to be heated all together for a few minutes and ta da! Your delicious quick and easy tasty beef dish is ready!

From adding these to sweets, infusing it with savory dishes and incorporating it into your next meal. This Beef Tapa Coke Recipe is a must try especially for those who love a sweet and savory take and tender beef texture.