🇵🇭 Philippines
Nilagang bakaFilipino boiled beef soup
A Filipino clear soup of beef (short rib, brisket or sirloin; bony cuts give the richest broth) boiled for hours with onion and peppercorns, finished with corn, potato or saba banana, cabbage and green beans, seasoned with fish sauce and eaten with rice.
Origin and history
According to Panlasang Pinoy, boiling food reached the Philippines before the colonial era with the Austronesians, and boiled beef with vegetables grew out of that tradition. Tougher, cheaper cuts were within reach of the peasant class, and their bony parts gave a richer broth, which also led to dishes such as bulalo and puchero. Sources do not agree on a date or town of origin.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 3 h
- Hands-on
- 30 min
Ingredients
- 1 kg2.2 lb beef short ribs, or another bone-in stewing cut such as shank or brisket on the bone, cut in large chunks; boneless sirloin also works
- 2 liters2 quarts water, plus a little for the first boil, and more for topping up
- 1 large onion, halved
- 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
- 2 tsp salt, to taste
- 2 corn cobs, cut in 3 or 4 pieces each
- 3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 3 saba bananas (or plantains), peeled and halved
- 1/2 small head (about 300 g)1/2 small head (about 10 oz) cabbage, cut in wedges
- 1 bunch pechay (bok choy), halved lengthwise
- 100 g3 1/2 oz green beans, trimmed
- 1 tbsp fish sauce (patis), plus more to taste and for dipping
- calamansi or lime, to serve, with steamed rice
Method
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1. Put the beef in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes, then drain the beef, rinse the pieces under running water and clean the pot. This removes the scum and keeps the broth clear.
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2. Return the beef to the pot with the 2 liters of fresh water, the onion and the peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 2 to 2 1/2 hours (boneless sirloin needs about 1 1/2 hours), topping up with hot water if needed, until the beef is fork-tender.
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3. Add the corn and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
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4. Add the potatoes and saba bananas and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
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5. Season with the salt and fish sauce. Add the cabbage and the green beans and cook for 3 minutes.
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6. Add the pechay, stir once and switch off the heat; the leaves will finish cooking in the hot broth within 2 to 3 minutes.
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7. Taste and adjust with more fish sauce. Serve in large bowls with steamed rice, and a small dish of fish sauce with calamansi juice for dipping the beef.
Notes
- The soup is clear and mild: onion, peppercorns, salt and fish sauce are the only seasonings.
- Cuts: short ribs or other bony cuts give the best broth, and long simmering melts their collagen. Using beef shanks makes a bulalo-style soup with the same method and vegetables.
- A pressure cooker cuts the beef time to roughly an hour.
- Saba bananas (a cooking banana) add sweetness; plantains can replace them. Cooks vary the vegetables: some use only potato or corn, Baguio pechay or napa cabbage may replace the pechay, and some add celery or a star anise to the broth.
- Nilaga means boiled, so the same method is used for nilagang baboy (pork) and for chicken.
- Make ahead: the broth keeps well for a few days in the fridge; add the vegetables fresh when reheating.
Adapted from Panlasang Pinoy, Nilagang Baka Recipe, Kusina ni Teds, Nilagang Baka Recipe, The Manila Times, The peasant history of Boiled Beef Soup (Nilagang Baka), and Pepper.ph, Nilagang Baka (Beef Nilaga).
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.