* This post has nothing to do with craft or decor but I just couldn’t resist posting this. I might add food to WhatElseMichelle soon. Heehee! By the way, this isn’t a recipe post but rather an exposé.
It’s been raining continuously for more than a week and I am just craving for hot soup. And now with annoying congested nose, Bulalo is the perfect choice. But for me, cooking bulalo requires patience. It’s not something I would cook in the morning and be eaten at lunch. I usually start cooking this late in the afternoon at around 5pm (yes, I have a time and it’s a ritual) so that we can have a hot bulalo soup for lunch the following day.
Why do I do that? Read through.
When cooking any soup based dishes, I always wait for the water to boil especially if the pork/beef have bones. Why? Because of this:
Can you see that yellow, melted butter-like oil under those scum?Bones release scum, some sort of impurities that accumulates on the surface of the soup. And being impurities, you don’t want that included in your meal. So have an extra patience to take it out by using a ladle or a scum remover. I used a ladle so I could also include the unwanted oil. I had to boil this 3x to get most of the scum out. This is also the reason why I don’t want to use pressure cooker. I’m not in so much hurry anyway.
This is what it looks like scum-free. I usually turn my stove off after 1.5-2 hours so by the time we got to bed (around 11pm), the soup has cooled down and can be put in the fridge overnight. You now probably have an idea why I need to do that.
TAADAA! You got it right, hardened fat. Good morning!
Is it cheese or white chocolate?
This is how heart failure looks like. Really, this is slow suicide!Never in the world would I let those killers enter my family. Although, honestly, it’s quite fascinating to look at, but totally gross to think about.
Now, this is what you call Mercy…Okay, I know this is gross but it’s the truth, a fatal one actually especially if you’re eating it with ice-cold drink. I don’t know why recipes do not include placing this dish in the fridge before adding the spices. This is probably the most important step especially for a high fat dish like Bulalo. I love beef shank but not the sebo ”lipgloss” that comes with consuming bulalo. So the next time you eat Bulalo and your lips get thick and shiny, think of this picture again.
This is how heart failure looks like. Really, this is slow suicide!So here’s to make up for the gross pictures above.
These are the only ingredients I use. Onions, onion leaves, ginger, a bit of garlic.
…and peppercorns too.
For the vegetable, I prefer, baguio beans, sweet corn (1 would do), potatoes and chinese cabbage instead of bok choy/pechayI told you, this is not a recipe post. But if you’re interested, here’s a good one.
Enjoy, your sebo-free bulalo!
My beef bone
soup scum looks very green. Yours looks just a little green – do you think it’s OK to eat?
Hi Lynne! I guess if you take out the scum completely, it’s alright to eat unless you start of with the meat having funny smell even before you cook it. The beef might not be fresh. But with the scum, as long as almost nothing is left, then your beef soup is good to eat.