When you think of Filipino food, you normally imagine something salty, sour, spicy, or all of the above. Beef Bulalo is none of those things. It’s a savory dish that leans on a nice flavorful cut of beef, traditionally shank, and a long cooking time to tenderize and extract the richness from the meat.

My recipe uses a pressure cooker to cut the cooking time, but leaves all of the subtle flavor intact.

Yield: 6 – 8 servings

 

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Tools

Chopping board
Knife
Pressure cooker (at least 8 qt) – If your pressure cooker is smaller, scale to recipe down to avoid overfilling
Fine mesh strainer
Bowl/pot (at least 4 qt)

 

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Ingredients

Phase 1

3 lb center cut beef shanks
2½ qt water or beef stock
1 large carrot
2 stalks celery
1 medium onion
1 medium tomato
2 knobs ginger
1 head garlic
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ cup red wine
4 bay leaves
1 tbsp whole peppercorns
Salt (to taste)

Phase 2

1 medium onion
2 ears sweet corn
2 large carrots
1½ lb creamer potatoes
1 – 1½ lb cabbage
1 bunch fresh parsley
White rice (optional)

 

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Directions

Phase 1

Soak the beef shanks in water for at least 2 hours, up to overnight. This will draw out any lingering blood (technically myoglobin, not blood) inside the meat and bones, and prevent the broth from getting to cloudy and “scummy” during cooking”.

 

Peel and roughly chop the carrots and onions. Roughly chop the celery and tomatoes. Peel the garlic and gently smash the cloves. Rinse the ginger (no need to peel), gently smash and roughly chop.

Add the beef, vegetables, and all the remaining ingredients to the pressure cooker pot. Add salt. If you’re using water or unsalted beef stock, start with about 3 tbsp of table salt (4 tbsp kosher salt). If you’re using salted beef stock, don’t add any salt at this step, you can season it later.

Close the pressure cooker and cook under pressure for about 1 hour (if using natural release) or 1½ hours (if using rapid release).

 

Phase 2

Remove all of the solid ingredients from the broth, and strain into a separate bowl or pot. Separate and set aside the beef and bones, discard all the remaining solids. Rinse the pressure cooker pot. If you want to serve with rice, cook it according to your rice cooker instructions.

Peel and chop the carrots into large chunks, Peel and slice the onion into thin slivers (cut pole to pole). Rinse the potatoes and leave them uncut and unpeeled. Slice the cabbage into large pieces.

Shuck the corn and cut into 1 – 2 inch sections. Be careful with this part, you’ll need a very sharp knife to cut through the cob. If you’re having trouble cutting all the way through, try slicing into the cob, then levering the blade to “crack” it apart.

Put the strained broth back into the pressure cooker pot, set the cooker to simmer, and bring the broth to a boil. Taste the broth and add salt to taste if needed. Add the onions and potatoes and cook for about 15 minutes. Add the carrots, corn,  and beef shanks, including bones and cook for about 10 minutes until the carrots are al dente. Add the cabbage last, and cook for a couple more minutes.

Chop the parsley and sprinkle on top before serving. Serve by itself, or with a side of white rice.

 

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Modifications

• You can use other green vegetables besides cabbage such as bok choy, or green beans.
• Carrots are not used in most traditional recipes and can be omitted.
• You can try other “long cooking” cuts of beef like ox tails, or ribs.
• You can use larger potatoes, you’ll just need to add them later into the cooking process so they don’t overcook and fall apart.