Bulalo

This is a dynamite beef soup hailing from my wife’s country of birth, the Philippines. I make (and will of course share in due time) quite a few Filipino dishes, however this one was the first. It’s pronounced boo la low, but I lovingly refer to it as blah blah blah…my wife thinks that’s funny anyway. Beef shank and marrow bones are slow cooked until the collagen and fat has melted into a rich and velvety clear broth. This takes a bit of a time investment, but is very hands off and super easy. Light yet satisfying, this soup is a perfect warm weather dish…which makes sense since EVERY day in the Philippines is incendiary. Many a cook would call for corn and chayote, but I prefer just long beans and bok choy.  Like pretty much every Filipino dish, this is eaten with plain white rice.

What you’ll need

Approximately 5 hours total time

Large stock pot

2 lbs. marrow bones

2 meaty beef shanks

1 onion quartered

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp peppercorns

2 bay leaves

2 T fish sauce (patis is the Filipino kind, but any will work)

 3 heads of baby bok choy separated into leaves

½ lbs. long beans cut to 4 in pieces or green beans cut in half

Salt to taste

First off, you’re going to give the meat and bones a bit of a cleanse. Fill a large stock pot ½ full of water and bring to a boil. Add the meat and bones and boil for 10 minutes. Remove meat and bones and rinse scum off under cold water. Dump out the pot and rinse it out. This step removes blood and impurities leading to a nice clear broth, think consommé. 

Next put the meat and bones back into the pot. Add the quartered onion, peppercorns, bay leaves as well as the garlic and fish sauce. Now a word on fish sauce. This is made by fermenting anchovies and bottling the juice. As absolutely abhorrently disgusting as this sounds, this stuff is magic. It’s chock full of flavor enhancing glutamates and really packs an umami punch. I use it all the time and always keep it on hand. Several countries in SE Asia make the stuff and each is slightly different. Patis is the Filipino type and it’s a bit more mild than the Vietnamese, nuoc mam, that I prefer. Three Crabs is my brand hands down and is at every Asian market I’ve ever been to which is no small number. You can usually even find this stuff, albeit inferior quality, at your local chain. 

Add 3 quarts of water and bring to a boil. If any more scum appears, skim it off. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the meat is fork tender, about 4 ½ hours. Go read a book or something.

Remove the meat and bones and set aside. Strain the stock, removing the solids. Add the meat, bones and liquid back to the pot as well as the beans. Simmer a further 10 minutes until the beans are tender. Add the bok choy and serve, adding salt if you prefer.