Recipe of Morcon Filipino Style

Ingredients

• 2 ½ pounds flank steak
• 5 tablespoons calamansi or lemon juice
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 12 slices bacon
• 1 medium carrot peeled and cut lengthwise
• 2 chorizo de bilbao or hotdog
• 3 pieces Dill Spears or Sweet Pickles cut lengthwise
• Cheddar cheese sliced lengthwise
• 4 hard boiled eggs peeled and cut in half
• ½ cup flour
• ¼ cup oil
• Kitchen twine

Sauce

• 1 small onion chopped
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• marinade used on beef
• 1 can 8 oz – 227g tomato sauce
• 2 ½ cups beef broth or water
• 2 bay leaf
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 small can 4 oz liver spread
• ¼ cup grated cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. When making beef morcon use this cut: flank steak, beef top or bottom round, eye of round or top sirloin. I’m not sure if you can use skirt steak.
2. Slice beef to ⅓ or ½ inch thick measuring around 6 ½ x 8 inches forming a rectangle. This size or smaller is much easier to handle and tie with a kitchen twine. Make sure the beef rolls fit your skillet.
3. Marinate beef in calamansi or lemon juice, ground black pepper and soy sauce for at least 2 hours in the fridge. Make sure beef is submerged in marinate.
4. After 2 hours or longer, remove beef from marinate. Don’t discard the marinate. Set it aside.
5. Lay beef flat on any surface and add slices of bacon on top of beef. Then add a slice of sausage, chorizo or hotdog, dill or pickle, egg and carrot. Roll beef into a log securing it with a kitchen twine.
6. Lighly dredge beef roll in flour.
7. Heat oil in a deep skillet.
8. Fry beef rolls for about 5 minutes, turning it to cook evenly to a medium brown. Remove from skillet and set aside.
9. On the same skillet, add more oil if needed.
10. Saute onion for 2 minutes.
11. Add garlic and cook till golden.
12. Pour beef marinate and bring to a boil.
13. Add bay leaves.
14. Pour tomato sauce and bring to a boil.
15. Add broth and bring to boil.
16. Lower heat to medium low.
17. Add beef rolls and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour or until beef is tender.
18. Add garlic powder.
19. Remove beef roll and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
20. Note: There will be too much sauce left on the skillet.
21. Leave 3 to 4 cups of sauce in the skillet and thicken with liver spread or cheese or both. Season with salt and pepper, if needed. Bring to a boil then turn off heat.
22. Slice morcon. Round or slightly diagonal about ½ inch thick.
23. Pour some thicken sauce on the morcon slices or serve sauce on the side.

Notes

1. When preparing beef, don’t slice it thick. You will end up with a very big bulky beef roll that is hard to handle and tie with a twine.

2. Tie the beef roll securely so it doesn’t open up when simmering in sauce.

3. Taste sauce before seasoning with salt. 

4. If you prefer a thicker sauce consistency, take about ⅓ cup of sauce and dissolve 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Stir the mixture until smooth. Slowly add it to the simmering sauce while stirring constantly.