In the Philippines, bulalo refers to the bone marrow from the beef shank, a cut of bone-in beef shank, or a meat and vegetable soup cooked with beef shank with the marrow intact.
If the photo makes you think of osso buco, you wouldn’t be wrong. Well, except that osso buco comes from a calf. Calves aren’t generally slaughtered in the Philippines (there are exceptions, of course, as when a calf is sold whole for pit roasting). So, the cut called bulalo comes from older cattle.
The soup known as bulalo is associated with the provinces of Cavite and Batangas in Southern Luzon. Where it actually originated is still a matter of debate. Batangas is a beef-producing province but it is in Tagaytay City (part of the province of Cavite) where the soup became a tourist attraction. Perched over 600 meters above sea level, the weather in Tagaytay City is cooler which makes it a great place to enjoy a pot of hot and hearty soup. The view isn’t bad either. And you may even opt to enjoy your bulalo with another tourist attraction — tawilis, a local fish with a curious history.
But if a drive to Tagaytay City is not on the horizon, there’s always home-cooked bulalo soup. I prefer to cook mine in the slow cooker. There is very little agitation and that means less chance that the marrow will fall off the bone.
Are the bones cooked in water or broth? Just plain water. The slow cooking will turn the water into broth. If this were a stew, I’d opt for broth for the cooking liquid, but this is a soup and cooking the bones in broth might result in something too rich that it’s already overwhelming. So, just water.
What about the vegetables? I usually add them during the last hour of cooking. The potatoes and cabbage are cut into rather large pieces and an hour is just long enough to get them cooked through and, at the same time, soak up the salty beefy goodness of the broth.
Now, how to serve your bulalo soup. You may use a tureen if the bone is large and there is a generous amount of meat and tendon enfolding it. You know, “family style”. But if the bones are smaller and less meaty, you may use individual (rather oversized) soup bowls.
Now, the dining part. Will a spoon fit into the bone’s cavity so that the marrow can be scooped out? That depends on the size of the bone and the cavity. If the diameter of the cavity is narrower than the width of a soup spoon, provide a teaspoon (one with a long handle is ideal) for scooping out the marrow.
And if the cavity is narrower than the width of a teaspoon? Well, you have two options:
1. Provide a wooden spatula—the kind the accompanies ice cream—or a popsicle stick.
2. Something I’ve never tried but have seen on social media and TV shows—a large drinking straw. Instead of scooping out the marrow, it can be sipped.
Slow cooker bulalo soup
Ingredients
- 1 kilogram bone-in beef shank a single piece or several pieces
- 6 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 onion peeled and halved
- 10 black peppercorns
- ¼ cup fish sauce (patis)
- 2 large potatoes peeled and quartered
- 1 medium white cabbage quartered
Instructions
- Half fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
- Slide in the beef shank (cut side of the bone or bones pointing upward) and leave to boil for about ten minutes to allow scum to float to the surface of the water.
- Carefully scoop out the beef, transfer to a colander and rinse under the tap to remove all visible impurities but taking care not to loosen the marrow.
- Drop the cleaned beef shank into the slow cooker and cover with clean water. Add the garlic, onion, peppercorns and fish sauce.
- Set the slow cooker on HIGH for two hours. Change the setting to LOW and cook for another two to four hours or until the meat is tender.
- Taste the broth and add more fish sauce, if needed.
- Drop in the potatoes and cabbage, and cook for another hour.
- Serve with a mixture of fish sauce and calamansi juice on the side for dipping.
