I know that most of you are familiar with TAPSILOG, meaning tapa, sinangag at ilog and it has been one of our favorite Filipino breakfast. Beccause of this, allow me to share with you the process of making a beef tapa.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg beef or carabeef, lean
• 1 1/2 tbsp table salt 
• 1/2 tsp curing salt
• 1 tbsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp phosphate dissolved in 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp anisado wine
• 6 tbsp refined sugar
• 2 tbsp chopped garlic

Procedure:

• Slice frozen lean beef into 1/4inch thick
• In a separate container, mix all the dry ingredients and then add all the wet ingredients
• Rub slices with mixture
• Place meat in a bowl, cover and cure at room temperature for 8-10 hours or inside a refrigerator for 1-3 days.
• Pack in polyethylene bags
• Store in freezer for 2-4 months or in a refrigerator for 1 week.

Processed meat products such as tocino, longanisa, bacon, ham, tapa, sausage and the likes have been part of the Filipino meal for centuries. You see aside protein, meat also contains nutrients such as thiamine and niacin,  and minerals like iron, phosphorous, potassium, sodium and manganese.

And speaking of meat, are you aware of the different classifications of meat? Now, let's have a look at the different meat classifications according to species:

• pork - hog
• beef - cattle over one year
• veal - cattle less than one year
• carabeef - carabao
• poultry meat - chicken, duck, quail, goose, pigeon
• horse meat - horse
• mutton - sheep over one year
• lamb - sheep less than one year
• chevon - goat
• lapan or star meat - rabbit
• venison - deer

In buying meat, it's not only important how meat are classified; the most important thing is that we have to be assured that we are buying good quality meat. To achieve a good meat quality, the following factors has to be considered:

• Color - for red meat, the color has to be reddish or pinkish but never pale; for white meat, the color should be creamy or like that of milk
• Texture - the coarser the texture, the older the animal and vice versa
• Smell - a good quality beef actually smells like milk, and a meat with foul odor only means that it is no longer fresh. Always remember no chemical or processing method can change how the meat smells.
• Fat -fat between muscle fibers is a characteristic of a high quality pork
• Bone - red and porous bones indicate that the carcass is young
• Bone Marrow - choose pink and soft bone marrow of young animals for a more tender meat.

I do hope that this post will be able to guide everyone in getting only good quality meat.