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BULALO Sarap to the Bones!

Sarap to the Bones!

While this line is attributed to a fried chicken restaurant, it is also more apt to describe this Filipino bone-in beef shank soup.



While BULALO is among the most popular beef soups  and can be found in different parts of the Philippines, bulalo "country" is Batangas and some parts of Cavite like Tagaytay.



And with this, the recipe tends to vary from one region to another but the basic is just it is slowly boiled beef shanks with bone (marrows) with an assortment of vegetables.



It's one easy recipe but takes a lot of patience to prepare since it requires hours of boiling the meat until tender that it almost falls off the bones...


Here's  a basic recipe on how to cook BULALO

Ingredients
  • 3 kilos beef shank with bones
  • 3-4 bundles of pechay (or 1 head cabbage, bok choy) 
  • 3 medium size onion, whole and peeled
  • 5 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 4-5 pcs. corn, cut into 4-5 slices each
  • 5 medium size potato, quartered (optional)
  • 2 stalks leeks
  • 2 Tbsp Pepper corns
  • 2 Tbsp Salt or Fish sauce (3-4 Tbsp)
  • Water, enough to boil the beef

How to cook BULALO
  1. In a large pot, place beef shanks, corn, pepper corns, onions and garlic. Pour enough water to cover the meat. 
  2. Boil in low fire for 2-3 hours until the meat is tender. Remove impurities that will "rise" during the process. You can also use a pressure cooker - around 1 hour would be enough. 
  3. When beef is soft and almost falls off the bone, add potatoes and boil for another 10 minutes or until tender.
  4. Add pechay (cabbage or bok choy) and leeks. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.
  5. Make final taste adjustments with salt or patis.
  6. Serve with calamansi, sili and fish sauce as dip.


What makes a good nilagang bulalo is how tender the meat should be - falling off the shank would be best.


It also should have a savory broth - not too salty and if possible less greasy (but that's not really the authentic bulalo - lol). And just add the vegetables you want to "counteract" the "cholesterol". Burp! 



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