Dereq (Dry) Tibsi

As you know, tibsi is just sauteed/pan fried X (insert your protein of choice here) .... and dereq means dry. So dereq tibsi is just tibsi without any sauce. 

I had learned that the perfect dereq tibsi requires you to -- 1) use a really tender cut of meat (the tenderloin cut) and 2) make sure your pan is extra-hot before cooking the ingredients. However, I recently experimented with the less expensive sirloin cut and had tasty results. Good news if you are cooking on a budget.

If you are familiar with this dish, or any tibsi dish for that matter, you know that there are nearly as many recipes as there are cooks. Some people like more onions (or less), or they like to add tomatoes, or they toss in whole garlic lightly smashed as opposed to mincing it, or they use tesmi (spiced butter) instead of oil, etc. So feel free to deviate from the recipe.

Dereq tibsi really shines when eaten with awaze (a spicy paste made with berbere) as a dipping sauce/condiment. Leave it out and it's like fries without ketchup, pancakes without syrup, bagels without cream cheese -- edible but why? I'll post the recipe for awaze in the next post.

Ah, one more thing. Dereq tibsi is ideal for beef and lamb. As you can imagine, chicken  wouldn't be too tasty dry. Shrimp might work though. I'm allergic -- so why don't you try it out and let me know?

Dereq Tibsi
Serves 2 as main dish or 4 as a side dish

1 lb of beef, tenderloin (fillet steak) cut, cubed or cut into strips
1 small onion, sliced
2 -3 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 tomato, roughly chopped (optional)
2 jalepeno peppers, roughly chopped
vegetable oil (or tesmi, spiced butter)
salt and pepper

1. Heat the pan over high heat for 5-7 minutes.
2. Add the meat and let it brown well on all sides. All the water must cook off. Only stir to prevent burning or uneven cooking.
3. Add a bit of oil and the onions and salt.
4. Once the onions soften or brown, depending on your preference, add the garlic and let soften for about a minute. 
5. Add the tomatoes (optional), jalepeno peppers, and black pepper and cook for about a minute or two, depending on how firm you like your tomatoes.
6. Remove from heat.