Bulalo - Beef Marrow Stew

Hey, foodie pals!

The previous few days or weeks have seen a lot of rain, and my husband continues to say that bulalo is the ideal food for the weather. I've considered buying the ingredients to make some for him, but I need a quality beef shank with bone marrow to make a good bulalo, and on my few trips to the market, I haven't found one. Fortunately, I came across what I had been looking for yesterday, allowing me to finally grant his request.

Depending on your version, this is a straightforward dish with only a few ingredients because you can add any vegetables you prefer to the stew. However, preparation requires patience because it takes time to tenderize the meat to the point where it melts in the mouth and for the beef's collagen and fats to melt and blend with the stew's liquid.

As it is typical in this recipe to have floaty fats on top of the stew that solidify when the soup is cold, I will also address a method I utilized to create a greaseless, clear broth. On this dish, you don't have to worry about the fat or grease. So let's get cooking!

Ingredients:

• 1000 g beef shank with marrow
• 2 large onions
• 1 tbsp whole peppercorn
• 2 tbsp of salt
• 6 cups of water
• 2 large cobs of corn cut into four
• half a handful of green beans
• 1 bundle of pechay or bok choy
• 1 whole cabbage cut into eight
• 4 pcs saba or plantain banana (optional)

I love saba in bulalo (I know it's weird for some, so you can omit it in your recipe) and nilaga or another beef stew recipe, so I adopted it in my version of bulalo.
Another tip: My method involves cooking the banana with the peel still on, guaranteeing that the banana flesh will remain undamaged no matter how many times the stew is reheated. And the secret is that I soaked the saba and every vegetable I used in water containing baking soda to kill any germs that might have been present.

Instructions:

• In a big cooking pot, add the beef shank and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil.
• Remove the excess fat and scum that accumulate and float in the boiling water with a spoon or strainer.
• Once the water is cleared of impurities, add the onions, peppercorns, and salt. Simmer until the meat is tender. You can use a pressure cooker to expedite the process. As for me, I slow-cook it for 3 hours on low heat to keep the bone marrow intact.
• The corn may be added immediately following the seasoning or later. It minimizes the broth's beefy aroma.
• Once the meat is tender, let it cool down a little. And remove all the floating fats. Put the pot in a big bowl filled with ice, or you can put it in the freezer until all the fats solidify.

The before and after.

_{This is how much solid fat I removed. There's more to it, depending on the quality of the beef.}

• Once the broth is cleared of floating fats, bring it back to a boil.
• Start adding the vegetables, putting the leafy vegetables last. Cover and simmer for 3 minutes.

• Remove from the heat and place in a serving bowl.

• Serve hot with white rice and fish sauce, chili, and calamansi, lime, or lemon dip. Enjoy!

After smelling the aroma of bulalo for a few hours, my husband was beaming from ear to ear when I told him the meal was ready. He claimed it was worth the wait.

I enjoy feeding my family home-cooked meals since I am confident for the the quality and cleanliness of the ingredients.

I appreciate you reading, and I hope you enjoy the dish!

Join me on my next one!

❤️❤️❤️

Credit to my husband for the GIF; I guess the bulalo paid off after all. Lol.

The lead image was edited using Canva.

All photos are my own, unless stated otherwise.