 Beef tapa with steamed rice, over easy fried egg and diced tomatoes and cucumbers | |
| Type | Meat |
|---|---|
| Course | Main course |
| Place of origin | Philippines |
| Main ingredients | Beef, pork, chicken, or fish; salt and spices |
| Variations | dried or cured |
Tapa is dried or curedbeef,pork,mutton,venison orhorse meat, although other meat or evenfish may be used. Filipinos preparetapa by using thin slices of meat and curing these with salt and spices as a preservation method.
Tapa is often cooked fried or grilled. When served with fried rice and fried egg, it is known astapsilog, a portmanteau of theTagalog wordstapa,sinangag (fried rice) anditlog (egg). It sometimes comes withatchara, pickled papaya strips, or sliced tomatoes asside dish.Vinegar orketchup is usually used as acondiment.
Tapa inPhilippine languages originally meant fish or meat preserved bysmoking. In theSpanish Philippines, it came to refer to meats also preserved by other means. It is derived fromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*tapa, which in turn is derived fromProto-Austronesian*Capa.Tinapa (literally "prepared by smoking") is anothercognate, though it usually refers tosmoked fish.[1]
Before cooking tapa, the meat is cured or dried and cut in to small portions thick or thin slices. As a method of preservation, salt and spices are added. After preparation, the meat can be cooked either grilled or fried.
Just like any otherulam (main dish) inFilipino cuisine, tapa is usually paired withrice. It can be garlic rice, java rice, plain rice or any other types of preparation. As a side dish, tapa sometimes comes withatchara (pickled papaya strips) or sliced vegetables (usually tomatoes). Vinegar (oftentimes withsiling labuyo) or banana ketchup is usually used as a condiment.
Tapsilog is the term used whentapa, garlic-fried rice (sinangag), and friedegg (itlog) are combined into one meal, which is served primarily duringbreakfast.[2] InTagalog, arestaurant that primarily servestapa is called atapahan,tapsihan ortapsilugan.
“Tapsilog” is a contraction of tapa + sinangag + itlog, and “tapsihan” generally refers to a place where one can get tapsilog. While these terms may have originated as slang, they are now widely recognized and understood—especially in Metro Manila—and are commonly used by restaurants and Filipinos from all social strata.[3]
Small restaurants calledtapsihan (ortapsilogan) in manybarangays in the Philippines servetapsilog along with some of its variants (seesilog). However, largebusiness establishment chains in the Philippines, particularly somefast food chains and even most hotels, have already ventured into the selling oftapa and thetapsilog due to the popularity of this type of cuisine, including thetapsilog and its variants on their breakfast menus.
tapsilog.
Media related toTapa (Filipino cuisine) at Wikimedia Commons
