Mechado
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Mechado is a stew served as a viand in the Philippines. Traditionally, it is cooked with beef briskets, potatoes, pimiento (red bell peppers), and tomatoes. It is similar to a beef stew, with elements of Filipino ingredients such as patis.
The dish originated from a Spanish recipe whose name originally referred to the strips of pork backfat that are threaded (mecha - wick) through thick pieces of cheaper lean beef to render them more tender and less dry. The larded pieces of beef are then marinated in vinegar, soya sauce, calamansi juice, crushed garlic, black pepper and bayleaf and browned quickly on all sides in hot oil or lard and then slowly braised in its marinating liquid with the addition of soupstock, onion slices and tomatoes until tender and the liquid is reduced to a thick flavourful gravy.
The use of thinner slices or even bony cuts of beef such as short ribs by budget-conscious cooks makes the larding that gave the dish its name unnecessary. The next step that has fallen by the way side but which is crucial to success (because it takes away so much from the taste and appearance of the classic dish when skipped) is the quick browning of the beef before actual braising. This step not only seals the pieces of meat so that it retains much of its flavour and juice but also helps produce the dark brown colour and rich beefy taste of the gravy. The long slow braising tenderizes the meat and liquifies the slices of onions and tomatoes to blend with and thicken the sauce. The addition of soya-sauce and calamansi juice to the marinating liquid, of course, gives this recipe its distinct Filipino touch and character, naturalizing it, as it were, as the true Filipino specialty it has become.
Beef tongue can be similarly treated with little or no variation to produce another favorite fiesta fare called Lengua Mechada.
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