It’s true that they say that you can’t choose family but you can choose your friends. I’d say that the same rule applies that you can’t choose your work colleagues, particularly if you work for someone else. I recently saw one of my old colleagues from many years ago when I was a media assistant. He was known for one thing among us and that was this very odd habit of licking his lips lasciviously as he talked. I’m not talking the occasional nervous tongue darting out but his tongue has its own identity and it’s own post code and I think it even received its own mail. I was sure that he was raised by snakes.
To make matters worse, his best friend in the office and partner in much crime was another man who loved cupping his hands together and wringing them as if he were plotting the world’s most dastardly plot. So much so that when Kris Kringle rolled around one year, someone bought him hand cream and gloves to try and deter him from the habit. And when the two of them walked towards you, one with his tongue writhing and the other with his hands wringing, you felt as if you would be at the very least molested. Admittedly, neither of them were sleazy or awful people, in fact they were quite friendly and apart from those two nervous tics, quite pleasant. But it didn’t stop our eyes widening and our spines stiffening every time they approached in unison.
But there are times when you can’t help but lick your lips. While I was cooking this dish was one. I had never heard of Salpicao before reading Midge’s delicious sounding recipe but when I saw that I had all of the ingredients in my pantry and the beef in my freezer, I wanted to make it right away. It was so simple that you could conceivably have it on the table in about 30 minutes flat if you marinated it for 20 minutes.
I plated this up and gave it to Mr NQN who devoured it quickly. He is usually a bit slower to eat meat heavy dishes as he grew up vegetarian but this proved no obstacle. The second time I made this, I served it with garlic buttered rice that I served at Christmas. Obviously I have no fear of garlic and this is strong in it but if you’re trying to ward off a cold, it might be a good dish for you with that amount of garlic. I also wanted to make it with vegetables so I substituted half of the beef with sliced mushrooms and it was a meal in one. So whilst you can’t choose your colleagues or family, you can choose your dinner and how to eat it!
And yes when I saw my colleague, he still licked his lips!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you sometimes feel like the most normal person in your workplace? And do you like garlic?
Salpicao Beef
Serves 2
- 300g/10 ozs. beef tenderloin
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 large chillies (optional)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornflour mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- boiled rice to serve or garlic rice*see recipe below
1. Slice beef into cubes and place in a bowl. Chop garlic cloves and add these to the bowl along with the black pepper, salt and sesame oil and toss to combine. Marinate for 20-30 minutes. In the meantime, mix the Worcestershire, oyster and soy sauces together in a small bowl.
2. Heat a frypan or wok on high heat and wait until smoking hot. Add the oil and fry the beef and seasonings for a few minutes until browned. Add the chillies and the sauces and fry coating the beef with the sauces.
3. Remove the pan from the heat. Mix the cornflour and water slurry (it often settles at the bottom) and add this to the sauce to thicken it. Add the butter to the pan and toss to coat the beef. Serve over the rice.
Garlic rice
- 2.5 cups chicken stock, hot
- 4 teaspoons chicken stock powder
- 100g/3.5 ozs. butter
- 1.5 cups jasmine or basmati rice
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
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49 Comments | Add your own
I think I tend to be the wacky/quirky one at my workplaces… but hopefully not creepy!
True, one cannot choose his/her co-workers. Some people are just so creepy…
This dish looks darn good! I love marinating my meat…
Cheers,
Rosa
Oh my, nice or not, those two sound freakishly weird to me. I had a creepy dude at one of my offices who would always follow me into the photo copy room, he had a really creepy way of talking. Once he blurted out “so, when will you invite me to your cottage?” All I could say is “don’t hold your breath!” He stopped following me into the photocopy room!
This looks and sounds like a very tasty dish Lorraine, but I’m wondering what chicken powder is? I don’t think we have it in Canada.
Sounds delicious, especially with the garlic rice! Love how you’ve presented the rice too!
Nice segue Lorraine and a lovely recipe. Actually I’m a little quirky and I like being that way. It’s fun and keeps the sense of humour strong at times when stress levels are high. ; D
Oh Lorraine, you’ve won me on this one with the first photo. Definitely tomorrow nights meal, have all the ingredients except meat to hand. Just hope mine looks as delish as yours! Keep those recipes coming, so many of your recipes have become firm favorites in our house. Thank You!
Do I like Garlic? I adore it, so much so I increased my veg garden to accommodate a whole bed of assorted garlic, there is nothing that beats homegrown garlic, for absolute flavour and juiciness. I grow enough to last for the year and to share with friends. Anyone can grow it, even in a tub on back patio. Just don’t try growing the Chinese imported stuff which is sprayed, bleached and centres removed. Pick up garlic from Farmers Markets and use that to plant at the correct time of year for your zone. Go all you Garlic Lovers…. Happy weekend all.
So, where do you find airlines who offer kitchens that allow you to cook? If you are not cooking on planes, I don’t understand how you find time to cook at all – given all of the restaurants you visit in far-flung locations across the globe.
Looks delicious! I would be very happy to make this for dinner tonight
Thanks.
You do make me laugh…his tongue has an identity of its own. Classic! I adore garlic–probably too much.
Have a great week-end.
Garlic is one of my favourite flavours in the world! And my home grown stuff is potent indeed
What a great recipe, thanks Lorraine!
I like to think I’m usually one of the most ‘normal’ ones at a work place, but whether or not my colleagues would agree is another story
I make another version of garlic rice that my kids just adore. I can never make enough of it as it’s one of the few dishes that they demand leftovers so they can take it to school for lunch.
Lol – your friend is so funny. I’m guessing he doesn’t realize that. Well, I’m actually licking my screen because this beef salpicao is to die for! I love this kind of beef but never tried to cook it before. Yum!
I am the most normal and the strangest in my workplace. I’m also the smartest
. That happens when you’re the only one!
Six cloves? Yes you DO love garlic, but so do I
! Have made similar for eons, but never used Worcester sauce – have to try! Looks very moreish! And you did bring us to the recipe in a gloriously imaginative way!! Define ‘normal’ 
! Actually the accepted medical definition is quite boring!! But me, always the ‘funky’ one amongst others: some understand and love it; learned a long time ago not to mind the others!!
You made this up right?? Because it is way to freakish to be so true, and so darned funny that I can’t help roll out of my chair laughing!!! hehehehe!!
Love the dish too
Especially the garlic rice.
I think every workplace has at least one character nobody can stop talking about. You had double the pleasure. Lucky you! LOL
I LOVE garlic, TRUE!
Your photo and recipe makes me NOW want to try and make too!
Am retired, but when I did work, always found workplace behaviors unique too!
Was interesting what people THOUGHT was acceptable workplace behaviors and what they did indeed get up to!
Some people have the worst habits and you wonder why no one tells them. I have a friend and her husband bites his nails. He’s 50. He comes to dinner parties and he gnaws away on his fingers in front of you. I have to look the other way because nail biting makes me feel bilious. I don’t know how his wife can be so tolerant of it. Loved your story xx
OMG YUM!
Haha gotta love strange colleagues (not). I’m blessed in that my workmates are generally really cool people and I’ve become great friends with a few of them (both current workmates and those who’ve since left the company for greener pastures). That said, we do have our share of strange colleagues such as the guy who, on his first day of the job, refused to start at 8am (official starting time) because he was “used to sleeping in until 10am as he’s been unemployed for so long” and kept sneaking away for unauthorised smokos every time the manager turned her head. He was also making too many errors in his work. Needless to say, he was terminated after 2.5 months.
That made me laugh! How come Mr. NQN grew up vegetarian?
R
Oh this dish looks so rich and delicious!
I don’t think I have ever worked with anyone like that but your descriptions were very funny
What a gorgeous dish! Love your addition of mushrooms and the garlic rice sounds divine. Great plating and styling too!
Ahahaha one of the best introductions ever. Oh, yes, sometimes I do wonder whether I’m the only sane person around (but then my work colleagues make some remark about my own crazy moments, so then I stop dreaming eheh).
Garlic? Love it to almost addictive levels – am I the only person who enjoys the smell (when it’s not too strong, obviously)?
Lorraine! You are too funny! This post had me laughing out loud… like you, I find it fun to invent “identities” for people in the office – makes the day go much faster! And the beef looks delish too
Oh my goodness, what a funny pair those men made! I love stir-fried beef but I’ll have to make garlic rice next time too – scrumptious!
This dish does look lip-smacking good. I don’t mind garlic, in moderation.
Goodness Lorraine those colleagues are certainly very interesting, hand it to you for keeping a straight face! I’d like to think I’m one of the normal ones in the workplace. I currently have a colleague who has very dubious hygiene needless to say I always decline when offerered any food
HI Eva! Oh my, how creepy is that? I’m glad that he stopped, it can be scary! The chicken powder is just chicken stock powder and I’ll amend it in the recipe because I’ve had a few enquiries
I love garlic. Delicious dish Lorraine
This looks really good despite I don’t eat beef! Mmm
Yummy this might be tea this week
(Blushes) Goodness, I’m so glad and thankful you liked my recipe – and yours looks even better than mine! I never thought of using a cornstarch slurry to deglaze the pan!
I’ve always been the weird one at work, the one who listens to Paolo Nutini and Queen while everyone else is listening to Nicki Minaj and Kanye, the one who watches UK and Aussie shows instead of local telenovelas. (It hurts to say it, but people actually hold that against you here in the Philippines.)
I really love beef, and this look amazing !
A lovely meal to enjoy now, in Wintertime! Spring is just around the corner, but just not yet!
MMMMMMMM!
Looks like a beautiful meal Lorraine! I want some now. Will definitely try making this garlic rice as hubby & I love garlic and rice very much. I usually go overboard with the garlic but always thinks of the health benefits of garlic so I keep on adding more and more
I think I’m the only sane person at my workplace, my colleagues all seem to have a few screws loose and are very hard to deal with especially being their supervisor. Great post Lorraine. Thank you for this recipe 
Bet this is amazing!
~~~Lorraine,
you have the beautiful, unexpected gift of somehow interweaving your interesting everyday life into your recipes & blog.
I appreciate it. I love it.
Hoping your are well, dearest.
Xxx Love from MN.
That’s on the menu this week… Thanks Lorraine
I absolutely love garlic and usually add too much in all my cooking! Mmm garlic naan, garlic bread, garlic pasta
Garlic buttered rice sounds soo delicious.
The beef in this dish looks so flavorful and tender. I like this dish a lot – especially with all the garlic!
This sounds like such a delicious meal…something I’ll be preparing soon.
Marinated the beef on Saturday, along with a dozen cloves of garlic,( only small ones!) but due to things happening unexpectedly didn’t get around to making this until tonight. So quick and easy, plus loaded with taste, reminded me of Korean food. Served it with brown rice and it certainly was well worth making. Yummo!
Hi Dirtgirl! I’m so pleased that you liked it and found it as quick and easy as I did!
I can see what you mean about Korean flavours too, especially with the sesame oil! 
What a delicious stew! Perfect for the still cold evening we are having out here!
Thsi looks so amazing, especially for a cold day. Really earthy and wonderful dish.
Sorry for what’s probably a silly question, but in the Garlic Rice (which sounds brilliant by the way) is the rice cooked or raw when it’s added to the pan?
Hi Chris! Not a silly question at all you add raw rice to the pan and the chicken stock cooks it
Finally got to make this on Thursday & it was so good. Made the garlic rice too. The hubby & kids have requested it go onto the plan again soon.
Hi Belinda! YAY!!! That’s fantastic that it was a hit with the whole family. Thanks so much for letting me know!
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