When I hear fiesta, memories of feasts long past flood my mind. Despite growing in the city, I have been exposed to many fiestas because my Lola (grandmother) would put a fiesta feast together every May 12, in honor of Sta. Ana’s patron, Nuestra Senora delos Desamparados (Our Lady of the Abandoned).
Fiesta prep would begin days before, with my Lola’s sisters and brother lending a hand to make Ube Halaya (Yam Pudding?), Atsara (Pickled Mixed Veggies), Leche Flan and other things they could cook ahead.
My Lola, the Kapampangan matriarch would oversee cooking on the day itself. Classic Pinoy fare, like Menudo, Mechado, Pinoy-style Fried Chicken, Pancit, Lechon Kawali, Morcon and Budding would be joined by Filipino-style Spaghetti (sweet with red hotdogs 
), Lengua with mushrooms & cream, Sweet & Sour Lapu-lapu, and Chicken in cream with green peas & quail eggs.
Truthfully, I was stumped when Lasang Pinoy 19′s theme was announced. The usual fiesta food is not my forte. Instead, I pushed my mom to the kitchen and asked her to cook, with me playing chronicler instead. Because we still had Morcon-style sheets of beef in the freezer, she decided to try her hand at cooking it. While she’s never tried cooking it before, memories of her mother cooking it were there, plus we had loads of cookbooks to refer to when puzzled.
Morcon is a beef roll stuffed with various things that could include, depending on the cook, sausages or hotdogs, eggs, pickles, pimiento and pork fat. It’s usually served sliced, yielding pretty rolls that are reminiscent of Japanese maki or Korean kimbap. Yes. I immediately thought bento potential. If you guys foresaw that thought, I guess you all know how my mind goes now. ^_^;;
A lot of people serve their morcon sauced with a tomato-based sauce, but since my Lola left her Morcon dry, so did we.
Morcon v. 7 July 2007
- 1 kg kalitiran or round, cut in flat sheets. If you’re it the Philippines, chances are, there’s beef cut and prepared for morcon at your local grocery.
- Juice of 10-12 pieces calamansi, roughly 1/4 cup. Substitute lemon juice if calamansi is unavailable
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup reserved juice from pickles
- whole sweet pickles, quartered lengthwise
- hotdogs, the red Pinoy kind. Sausages would suffice but nothing beats red hotdogs. Halved lengthwise
- hardboiled eggs, quartered lengthwise
- pimientos, sliced into lengthwise strips
- string used for trussing chicken
- oil for frying
- beef stock
- salt & pepper to taste
1. Marinade the beef in a mixture of soy sauce, calamansi juice and the pickle liquid. Let rest for a few hours.
2. Lay the marinated beef flat on a board or cookie sheet. Add strips of hotdog, pickles, egg, and pimientos.
3. Roll the beef, keeping the filling in the center, like you would when rolling maki or kimbap.
4. Tie the roll with string to keep it together.
5. Pan-fry the morcon over high heat. When sufficiently browned, drain of fat.
6. Transfer the seared morcon to a pan, then fill with beef stock and leftover marinade. Simmer for 2 hours or until tender.
7. Drain, then fry to a nice crisp outside.
8. Slice into 1/2 to 1-inch thick slices. Serve.Note: My Lola used to add a strip of fat as well, but my mom skipped that. Plus, it was one thing I picked out of my morcon as a kid so I’d skip it as well.
looks really good!!!
this is torture to someone who now can’t eat meat. huhuhuhu. t.t
@ynna
Thanks, it was! And I’m happy we still have the extra log frozen. I’ll know I can have some more should I have a craving
@Bea
(I’m not helping any, am i? XD)
I read about your condition! I hope you feel better soon. Just try to find yummy veggies and fish, so you won’t notice you’re missing out on meat. Then when you can eat meat again, go and bite into a gigantor sized steak!
this is one dish that i haven’t had for yearssss! i miss, err, i think i have already forgotten how good it tastes like! thanks for reminding me! and for the recipe…
OMG! That looks really delicious! It’s been a long time since I cooked morcon. It’s about time. Naku kaya lang parati kaming out of town ngayon… but I really wanna do it again. Naglaway ako e
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@ces & iska
Haven’t eaten it for a long time too, that’s why I pestered my mom to cook it, hehe. Thankfully, it was a successful experiment. And it was surprisingly easy so it looks like we may have it on a more regular basis.
I honestly have never tried making this.Ill definitely try ur recipe.
Oooh morcon! Yours looks good! Have you tried the one from Everybody’s Cafe in San Fernando, Pampanga? If you haven’t yet, and you find yourself in that part of the world, please do try it. It’s amazing!
@kc
Hope you enjoy it! I was quite surprised to find out it was pretty easy. When I was a kid I thought it was very complicated to cook, turns out it’s not.
@Christine
Sayang! We used to go to Pampanga a lot when I was much smaller. We used to have a house there, a small 2-storey pawid and kawayan affair, but it’s not there anymore. Still, I’ll remember to visit if we do get the chance to go there. My mom visits relatives in Masantol once in a blue moon, usually when someone comes home from the States. Maybe I could drag her there
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i am currently cooking this version of morcon and it’s looking gooood….
thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
I hope it turned out well! I’ll be sure to tell my mom, she’ll be happy if it did.
Beef steak has always been my all time favorite dish and i am always looking for some new recipes that has steak as the main ingredient.~;”
That’s good to hear. I love steak too.
Thanks for sharing this recipe, Its a long time that I want to try this recipe but I cannot understand the procedure. I think the one share is very simple and easy to execute. I will try your recipe this coming christmas. Thanks and more power!
Hi Nestor! What part do you find confusing? Ask away and I’ll do my best to clarify it.
ang sarap sarap! looks scrumptious!
reminds me of holiday season=( one the things I look forward to during noche buena, MORCON! =)
Agree! Morcon = Family Celebration tiems!
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