I got the idea for this dish from a popular ulam (viand) served in Filipino carinderias (roadside eateries). It is basically menudo except that it is made with ground meat. In carinderias, the dish is usually garnished with hard-boiled chicken eggs which serve as an inexpensive extender.
The size of the quail eggs seemed to me to be more appropriate for gound meat. Two dozens of quail eggs for half a kilo of ground meat were just right.
Ingredients :
500 g. of ground sirloin (ground lean pork would be more inexpensive and just as good)
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-cm. cubes
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
4 medium-sized tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 head of garlic, peeled and finely minced
2 bsps. of tomato paste
salt and pepper
4 tbsps. of vegetable cooking oil
24 quail eggs, hard-boiled and shelled
a handful of fresh basil leaves, finely sliced, for garnish
Cooking procedure :
Heat the cooking oil in a shallow cooking pan (a wok is great). Add the potato cubes and cook over high heat until lightly browned. Add the ground meat. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
Add the garlic, tomatoes and onions. Cook, stirring, for about a minute or until the vegetables start to soften. Stir in the tomato paste. Add the quail eggs. Cook for a minute longer.
Sprinkle with finely sliced basil leaves before serving. You may also serve this ground beef and quail eggs dish as a rice topping. Click here to see what I’m talking about. 
Note: You can reduce the amount of vegetables to half and add cubed carrots and sweet peas. Diced bell peppers would be nice too. I would have added them all except I had none in the house when I cooked this dish for lunch yesterday.
[tags]ground+beef+recipe, Filipino+food, Filipino+cooking, cooking, food, recipe, food+blog, cooking+blog[/tags]
Hi, I’ve just discovered your blog and I think its great. As a Filipino living in Sydney, Aus I do miss some of the stuff from back home escpecially the food!! I’ve been in Aus since I was six, but haven’t been back in about ten years but through this blog I feel like i’m back home already. Thanks!
This came just in time Connie. I have about 2 dozen cooked quail eggs (leftover from my pickling with onions recipe). This would definitely be our supper tomorrow.
Doddie
i tried your sweet & spicy tofu and chicken livers & string beans. simut-sarap ng pamilya ko. panalo!
sarap po nito! actually i have tried it before at home ground beef sirloin din po, but without quail eggs, now ill try it with quail eggs. thanks for sharing your recipes
thanks sassy for these recipes. they are great help to us, kitchen newbies. and the stories are well written and very enjoyable to read.
just want to ask if you can do (or direct me to it if you already have) a portion in your blog for some marketing tips. like how to buy seafoods or meat, how to know if they are fresh or not, how to pick tomatoes and such. it may be basic for some but believe me “we” exist — those that have no idea about these things. and good/fresh ingredients are the foundations of a delicious dish, right?
thanks again, sassy.
enjoy your week!
You are welcome, jenjen.
doddie, pickled quail eggs? wow, i’ve always wanted to try that since i saw a jar in a flea market last year.
ayos, pao.
rya, the dish looks rather plain and the quail eggs make it look so festive. and with kids… LOL the quail eggs do make a lot of difference.
pyjs, wow, i do think i need to add a category like that. come to think of it, i do not know of any food site that specifically address those issues.
ganda, am so glad to see na tuloy pa din ang iyong re-invention of Filipino food
kami mamaya, because of Coco Evap, we’d be cooking gising-gising naman, with both kangkong and chopped baguio beans 
hi ms. sassy, this is one of the comfort foods i enjoy even as a kid. i think it’s called picadillo, and my mom used to serve it as a soup complete with hard-boiled eggs. Aside from bell peppers, green peas would also be a nice addition
this looks easy to make! can’t wait to try it. and i love anything with quail eggs on it.
PS: just wanna thank you for your recipes. it has made my “independent” life seem easier!!!!
uy, delish, cooking na ba beauty mo ha? domesticated ne? hehehe
hi jeffry.
maybe you’d like to try my version of picadillo?
No problem, paupau. I’m happy enough that I can help so that less people will be dependent on fast food junk.
thanks sassy for welcoming my suggestion…
looking forward to that
by the way, please have a moment of silence on saturday (late afternoon) as i’ll attempt to cook this dish for dinner..hehehe
pyjs, i’m preparing for it. it’s not the same as documenting a recipe so give me a little time to practice hehehe
this one’s my favorite dish back in college… foods that fit my allowance, easy to eat pa, no need to chew too much! hehehe… I used to do this with ground pork minus the quail eggs, i’ll try beef next time.
thanks for the idea!
Pix looks so yum yum. I remember my Lola and Tita bringing this dish with us as baon every time. I have been cooking this less the quail eggs but I will try next time with the quail. I give this to the kids in a toasted pita bread. Just tonight my son (who got married 3 weeks ago) dropped by and ask me how to cook it. Don’t think he will remember all what I told him so I am sending your recipe as well.
Thanks
wen i saw ur recipe ngutom 2loy me en try 2 cook diz hmmn its favolus tnkz 4 recipe naiba naman ang taste okz
I always cook this with ground pork, try ko naman ngayon ang beef with quail eggs pa. Hay, thanks Connie nadagdagan na naman ang alam kong recipe.
Sana magustuhan mo, Lani.
Hi Connie,
Thank you so much for sharing great recipes, I’ve tried this one and made Maja Maiz for dessert.. Dad liked the Maja, while Mom liked this one. (Just to give a background, I’m the unofficial cook in the family whenever I visit my parents’ house in the province, which is almost every weekend and I’ve always looked for various dishes to try out and particularly those that we can cook during holidays when all the relatives are present
)
I really do hope that you can publish your recipe book sometime soon.
Hi Janet. You know… I have a better recipe for maja maiz. Been experimenting with proportions of ingredients and texture. Will post it soon.
That’s great Connie! I can’t wait to try it
a general question connie: if i freeze small portions of these viands, how’s the best way of heating them up before serving?
i guess i can use chickens eggs too instead of quail. they just have to open their mouths wider.
Why don´t you mention, how long one has to boil the quail eggs until they are hard boiled?
Re #22. Reheat in a non-stick pan with no oil added.
Re #24. Because I didn’t think it was necessary.
buti nalang nag open me now ihave no idea for this day what was our dinner and i saw this recipe actualy i always looking for this site,what was my family eating everyday and they love it,, thank you for posting this site,,
Hi, fired my cook a few weeks ago
and i got 2 schooling kids to make breakfast and baons/lunch everyday…i found ur site 2 wks ago and it has really helped me a lot in what to cook and how to do it esp. this is all pinoy so all the ingredients are all available and simple, very helpful esp for me who is an “aspiring” cook,hehe..thanks so much! ur a big help and more power to ur site!! 
Madam Connie ano kaya pwedeng gamitin aside from basil leaves?
Sliced onion leaves.
the procedure is very simple.i’ll try this one this evening..