Bulalo
A beef shank and bone marrow soup from the Batangas-Cavite region of southern Luzon, where cattle ranching flourished under Spanish colonization — its name from the Tagalog word for marrow, 'bula.' The traditional Batangas version is often vegetable-sparse, letting the slow-simmered meat, marrow, and broth carry the dish, rather than the corn-and-cabbage-loaded version common today. It's genuinely distinct from the everyday Filipino boiled dish nilaga: bulalo specifically centers on shank and marrow bones for a richer, fattier broth, not a general boiled-meat-and-vegetable soup.
Meat
⚠ Contains: Fish. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg beef shank with bone marrow
- 2 ears corn, cut into pieces
- 1 cabbage or bunch pechay, chopped
- 3 potatoes, quartered
- Fish sauce
- 1 tsp whole peppercorns
- 1 onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- Green onions, to garnish
- Calamansi, to serve
Steps
- Simmer the beef shank in water with onion, garlic, and peppercorns for 2.5-3.5 hours, skimming scum, until the meat is tender and marrow soft.
- Add the corn and potatoes, and cook 15 minutes more.
- Add the leafy greens in the last few minutes.
- Season with fish sauce and serve with calamansi on the side.